DDR HEARTS
by Darkness Shade
Summary: After the encounters in the DDRist Kingdom, things have changed since we last saw Ryan....however, something unexpected is about to happen.....Read on and Review.
1. The Next Time

DDR HEARTS: The Next Time  
By  
Sega1cool  
  
A/N: Hey, hey, I'm back.....Ryan's POV as usual, but enough of my prattling on, to the story.....  
  
  
  
-------------------------  
Somewhere,someplace  
  
I was driving home, listening to the silence, no music, just thinking.  
"Oh, sorry. It's been awhile guys. I haven't seen you in the longest time."  
I gonna talk like this, okay?  
So, let's get you caught up.  
I haven't seen Charmy in three months....see 'One More Day' for the whole story on that....and I still haven't forgotten her.  
Sometimes I would wonder if it was real, but then seeing the bowtie she gave me, and  
that she was wearing my Millenium arrow in the game, was all the proof I needed.  
  
As for my friends from G.U.N, they had sadly been taken away, as they had been pulled too deep  
into Konamison's falsities. I also learned the fate of another friends of mine's, Jake. Turns out  
he went under cover to try and stop Konamison from the inside, but in the end he failed and  
payed the price.....  
  
Anyway, I had just gotten off from a endorsement photo shoot.  
Konami, the company, had wanted to ease relations between us after what Konamison had  
pulled...so they wanted me to endorse their newest game, DDR Extreme. I was saddened  
by it though, because they had people dressed as the characters there for the shoot as  
well, including one dressed as Charmy. I knew it wasn't her, but she looked so similar.  
  
  
-------------------------  
My House  
  
As I walked to the door, I noticed a box.  
"Hmm, it's addressed to me, better bring it in."  
I picked it up, walked in, and set it down on the table.  
The last time I got a package was that fateful day, so long ago...  
...but this was no time for flashbacks.  
I felt horrible, so I decided to take a shower.  
  
I turned the volume on the CD player loud, so I didn't hear someone come into my house.  
I got out of the shower, dried off, put some clothes on, and headed downstairs to see what was inside that box.  
I opened it up and the contents made me somewhat happy.  
It was the new sensors I had ordered for my 5th mix machine.  
I grabbed my tool box and the sensors, then headed for my arcade room.  
  
--------------------------  
Arcade Room  
  
I unplugged the 5th mix and opened the panels, replacing each one at a time.  
After what must have been an hour, I finished putting the last one in and plugged the  
machine back in.  
"Man, this house is so empty since they all left....."  
I stood up and noticed it hadn't started the boot up sequence.  
"Hmmm, that's wierd......what didn't I do?" I asked myself.  
  
"You didn't plug the main outlet in, you silly 'teddy bear'." said a familiar voice.  
I froze, that voice, I knew that voice, there was only one person who ever called me  
teddy bear.  
As I turned around, I dropped the screwdriver I was holding, time slowing as it hit  
the ground.  
"C-C-Charmy?!" I asked.  
"Yes?" she asked.  
I just stood there for a moment, not registering what was going on.  
Then when I pinched myself and saw that it was no dream, I ran to her, crying my eyes out.  
"Charmy, you're really here!" I shouted.  
Just as I was about to hug her, she put her arm out.  
"Huh?" was all I got out before she tackled me.  
I hugged her tightly and she hugged me back just as tight.  
"Oh, God, thank you so much! But how? Nevermind. I don't care how, just as long as you  
are back." I said.  
"I am back, and I'll never leave again." she said.  
I was so happy, too happy to express in words what I was feeling.  
It was at that moment that my life began anew.  
  
After we had settled down, we went and cuddled for awhile on my bed.  
"You don't know how much I missed you since that day, three months ago." Charmy said.  
"Oh, I probably do." I said, giving her a kiss.  
We sat there, hugging each other, knowing we would never be seperated again.  
"So, exactly how did you get back to my dimension?" I asked.  
"Well....you can thank Mia and your friend Tom for that......it started a week after that day we last saw each other. Mia had finally broken her way into our dimension."  
"I'm assuming that Terry and Mia are now seperated, eh?"  
"Yes, they are back to their original selves, and that asshole who put them through this is now gone.....anyway, she saw how sad I was and told me of someone who might be  
able to help....it was your friend Thomas, or rather, Tom. After he had blown up your  
moon, he met those server dudes in that Dimension of Heroes place. They sent him to Mobius 2, kinda like how your  
other self is on Mobius. Mia used the last of her strength to send me to Mobius 2. Anyway, he's been a big assest and the servers kinda owed him  
big-time. When I told him of my plight, he was more than eager to help, knowing that  
you had finally found someone and the last thing he would want was for you is to be  
sad again. So, he contacted the server dudes, he told them what was up, and they said  
they should be able to help....next thing I know, I'm outside your house and then that  
leads us to this."  
"Wow, Tom is a good friend....if I ever see him again, I'll have to thank him."  
We laid there in my bed for a little while longer, just taking in each other's warmth.  
It was so hard to beleive, but she was back....and I couldn't have been happier.  
We were soon fast asleep.  
  
-----------------------------  
Next Morning  
  
I awoke and felt around for Charmy.  
She wasn't there.  
Had it been a dream, again?  
I got up and walked downstairs.  
"Hmm, something's off."   
I sniffed the air.  
"Wait, smells like someone's cooking breakfast."  
I ran to the kitchen.  
Sure enough, there was Charmy, making breakfast for us.  
  
Charmy noticed me and smiled, "Good morning, 'teddy bear'."  
"Morning.*phew* for a sec, I thought I had just had another dream."  
Charmy walked over to me,  
"What about this? Is this a dream?" she said, giving me passionate kiss.  
"Wow! Nope that's real, you're really back."  
Charmy and I sat down and ate the breakfast she cooked.  
Now, the food may have looked horrible, but I'll tell you this, it was the best meal I  
had had in the longest of time.  
"Thank you for breakfast, Charmy."  
"Your welcome. So what're we doing today?"  
Hmmm, now that was the question wasn't it?  
"Hey, that new James Bond movie is out, want to go see it?" I asked.  
"James Bond? Cool, I've heard about him. He's supposed to be some super cool, suavve,  
British spy."  
"Yeah, that's the gist of it. And we can play DDR before the movie."  
"Okay, cool. I'll get my shoes on." she said, running off.  
*sigh* I guess I've got the dishes......  
Charmy got her shoes/skates on and we walked to my car, I opened the door and let her  
in and then got into the drivers seat.  
Little did I know, this was the last time I would see my house for a long while.  
  
-------------------------  
Orange Park Mall: AMC 24  
  
We stood outside waiting to get our tickets.  
Charmy wasn't cold because this time, she had brought some long pants to wear.  
I payed for the tickets and we went inside the theater.  
"Follow me. The machine is over here." I said, motioning towards the 7th mix machine.  
I put in the dollar and selected 'Versus' mode.  
As Charmy and I danced, many people stopped and watched us.  
  
"We seem to be drawing quite the crowd." I said.  
"It means nothing. I'm DDRing for the fun, the fitness, and most of all, to be with you." Charmy said.  
"Ditto." I replied.  
Eventually, we ran through our 4 songs and stepped off the machine.  
The crowd clapped for us and we bowed, waved and walked on hand and hand.  
  
I looked ahead and saw a familiar face.  
"Sonic! Shadow!" I shouted.  
The two hedgehogs turned around and saw me.  
"Hey! What're you doing here?" Sonic asked.  
"Seeing Bond with my girlfriend." I replied.  
"Uh,hello? How?" Shadow said, making the signal that I was crazy.  
Just then, Charmy came back from the restroom.  
"Hey, Ryan. Sonic, Shadow, how's it hangin'?" She asked.  
Sonic and Shadow were speechless, which was a first.  
"How, Wha, HuH?" they said in unison.  
"Long story, but all I care about now is that she's here with me again, and this time  
she'll never leave." I said, hugging her.  
"Oh, you sweet 'teddy bear'." she said, hugging me back.  
Shadow looked like he was going to gag.  
Sonic was laughing, "Hahaha, you nickname is 'teddy bear'."  
Charmy gave him the 'look' and he promptly shut up.  
"So, what are you guys seeing?" I asked, moving on from that unpleasantness.  
"Same as you, Bond Rocks!" Shadow said.  
"Yeah, we saw a crowd around the DDR machine. Were you two drawing it?"  
"What do you think?" Charmy asked.  
"Yes, I had a feeling." Sonic said, not wanting to be given the 'look' again.  
  
We got our refreshements and entered the theatre.  
Ah, now I can thank AMC for couple-seating.  
We went to the top, so we could easily see the whole movie.  
I put the drink holder between us up, and me and Charmy cuddled while waiting for the  
movie to start.  
'I couldn't have asked for anything better.' I thought, looking at Charmy, who was resting on my shoulder.  
I munched on some popcorn while watching the previews and then the movie started.  
"About time." Charmy commented, "but at least I was waiting with you, Ryan."  
The opening started, Pierce Brosnan as Bond walked across the screen and shot at it,  
doing the traditional opening.  
We watched the high points, low points, and the explosions of the movies.  
It was good and I suggest to those that haven't seen it, do.  
  
After the movie, we walked out and thought about what we could do.  
As we stood there, I sensed something.....  
'What is this feeling? I've sensed this life force before....' I thought to myself.  
Charmy noticed I had that worried look on my face.  
"What's wrong, Ryan?" she asked me.  
".....Oh, nothing." I said, looking around.  
Then there about one hundred feet away was him...the hooded dude from my dreams.  
"This can't be good." I said, not noticing the others were looking at me.  
"What's not good?" Sonic asked.  
I subtlely motioned for them to look at that hooded guy.  
"See him," I said, "he's the guy from my dreams. He muttered something about the doors and a key.  
I've got a bad feeling."  
I wondered what I should do.  
"Well, then let's march over there and demand he levels with us." Shadow said.  
"Okay. Charmy stay behind us in case he pulls something." I said as we made our way towards him.  
  
It was obvious he spotted us, because he ran off, us in pursuit.  
"Stop, come back here." I shouted.  
I saw him duck down an alley and then.....  
"He disappeared." I said, not sensing his life presence.  
We stood there for what seemed an eternity, until.....  
"What is that?" Sonic asked, pointing towards some wierd, black, shadowy thing.  
'Oh, no. It's the heartless.' I thought.  
The one heartless became two and enveloped Sonic and Shadow in a dark mist.  
"Ahhh, let go. Ryan, help!" Sonic and Shadow said in unison.  
I didn't know what I could do.  
I tried to use my saber, but it had no effect on them.  
"No way, I can't beleive this is happening." I said, as Sonic and Shadow vanished.  
At that moment my saber, changed. It became the shape of one of those old style key's with the top  
part the handle and the rest the light beam.  
"Wow, that's new." I said, not noticing the heartless sneak up on me.  
"Ryan, look out!" Charmy shouted as the heartless jumped towards me.  
I turned around and slashed at it with my 'Keysaber'.  
It evaporated into nothing as the Keysaber came into contact with it.  
"Yes, looks like this one works on them." I said.  
  
I looked around and couldn't see Charmy.  
I figured she'd gone and followed that guy down the alley.  
"Damn it! I don't need her getting killed after finally getting her back." I said running down the  
alley way.  
About halfway down, I saw Charmy standing in front of a door....  
"Wait, I've seen that door before..." I said, just before the door blew open and darkness flowed  
out and pushed Charmy towards me.  
I went to catch her, but the next thing I knew, she disappeared.  
"No, not again!" I shouted, before the darkness knocked me out.  
  
When I awoke, things had gone from bad to Holy Shit.  
The mall was in ruins and there was a huge vortex in the sky.  
"What the hell is that?" I asked myself.  
Just then, I noticed a rather large shadow being cast over my area.  
I turned around and saw....him.  
"No, it's my dark side from the dream....This can't be good." I said, drawing my Keysaber.  
I attacked his fists, just like in my dream.  
He summoned more of those stupid shadow Heartless and I dealt with them.  
After an eternity, I dealt the final blow.  
Then the vortex began sucking in the world, as my darkside flew into it.  
I grabbed onto a broken bike rack and hung on.  
"No, my grip is slipping....NOOOO!" I said, losing my grip and being sucked into the vortex.  
As soon as I hit the vortex, everything went dark and I had no idea where I was going to come out next, my last thoughts of Charmy before I slipped into unconsciousness........... 


	2. Welcome To Traverse Town

DDR HEARTS: Welcome To Traverse Town  
By  
Sega1cool  
  
  
A/N: Yep, another chapter, hope the last one didn't leave too much suspense....I do tend to try  
and create cliffhangers......Ryan's POV.......(Inner Demons: Ryan doesn't own anything he uses, other than his character and this story's concepts and writings.)  
  
  
---------------------------  
Unknown Location  
  
"Ugh, man, where am I?" I said, regaining consciousness.  
I looked around and didn't see any of my friends.  
I holstered my keysaber and walked out of the alley I was in.  
"If I'm here, than mayber the others are....but where is here?" I said.  
As if to answer, a huge sign was above the town, right in front of me.  
"Hmmm, 'Traverse Town', eh? Never heard of it, but I better get looking for my friends."  
  
As I entered the next district, I noticed a man being attacked by....a heartless?  
"No, this can't be good......" I said, watching the man's heart be taken by the heartless, which  
then disappeared.  
"Looks like I'll be busy....." I said, chasing after it.  
  
---------------------------  
Traverse Town: 3rd District  
  
Meanwhile, Sonic and Shadow had just came to, collapsed in a heap of garbage.  
"Ah, nasty." Sonic said,"Any idea where we're at, Shad?"  
"No clue, Sonic. Last thing I remember was that freaky black shadow and then here we are."  
"I wonder if the others are here?"  
"If they are, we better get looking for them."  
  
Just as Sonic and Shadow went into the 1st District, I entered the 3rd District.  
"Where did that heartless go? Nevermind, I need to find the others." I said.  
I walked along towards the 1st district, and when back to it just as....  
  
-----------------------------  
Traverse Town: 2nd District  
  
Charmy awoke in the 2nd District, all shaken up.  
"Ugh, that hurt. What's this?" Charmy said, holding a gun.  
"Hmm, this looks like the one I had in 4th mix, better keep it. Now to find the others."  
She walked towards the 3rd District, just as I walked back towards the 1st District.  
  
----------------------------  
Traverse Town: 1st District  
  
"Man, where are they?" I asked outloud.  
Hmm, an item shop, maybe the owner has seen something.  
I walked into the shop and went to the owner.  
"Howdy, what can I do for you?" the man asked.  
"Well, um, I was wondering if you had seen someone."  
"Well, I see lots of people, but you must mean someone who just got here......well, there were   
these two hedgehogs that came through here, making a lot of noise."  
"Hedgehogs? One didn't happen to blue and the other black with red stripes, would they?"  
"Actually yeah, they were...they headed towards the 2nd District."  
"Thanks, ummmm....what's your name?"  
"My name is Cid."  
"And mine's Ryan, thanks Cid." I said, walking out of the store.  
  
As soon as I walked outside, I was confronted by a guy in a black jacket and black pants.  
"So, your the one who is the Keymaster? Not much to look at." he said.  
"Want to make something of it?" I said, drawing the Keysaber.  
"Hmmm, very well then." he said, pulling out what looked like a combination between a sword and  
a revolver.  
He made the first move, jumping forward quickly and slashing with his gunsword.  
'Wow! He's quick.' I thought, barely blocking his attack.  
He jumped back and started circling.  
I did the same.  
Unfortunately, he soon showed he was not toying around. He said some kind of spell and his sword  
glew with a dark purple glow.  
'Crap, this can't be good.' I thought, as he jumped up high and came down, hitting me with his  
attack.  
"Noooooo........" I said, going unconscious.  
  
--------------------------  
Meanwhile, back in the 2nd District  
  
"Listen, the only way we're going to find Ryan and Charmy is to keep looking." Sonic said.  
"I know, but I'm getting frustrated." Shadow said.  
"Perhaps I can help." said a girl with brown hair.  
"Who might you be?" Sonic asked.  
"My name is Aerith, and I know where your friend Ryan is."  
Sonic and Shadow looked at each other, then at her.  
"How do we know your telling the truth?" Shadow said.  
"Well, you can choose to or not. Either way, I'm going to see him." she said, walking off.  
  
"What choice do we have? It's the best lead we've gotten so far." Sonic said.  
"Your right, we've just got to trust her." Shadow said as the two headed off, following Aerith.  
  
I awoke from whatever had happend and was lying in a bed.  
"Where am I?" I asked.  
"Your in the Traverse Town hotel. You'll be safe here, for the moment."  
"What do you mean?" I asked.  
"Well, since you wield the Keysaber, the Heartless are drawn to you." a girl in beige shorts and  
a green shirt said.  
"Okay, then who are you guys? And where's my Keysaber?" I said, standing up.  
"Here," the guy said, "catch."  
He tossed the Keysaber and it warped into my hands.  
I holstered it and waited for an explination.  
"Well, we should at least tell you our names. I'm Yuffie and that is Squall...."  
"My name is Leon, not Squall." Leon said.  
"Okay, whatever. And I'm Ryan. Now that the pleasantries have been made, do you think you could  
help me find my friends?"  
"Don't worry, our friend Aerith has already found them."  
"Okay, but can you explain what's going on?"  
"Well," Leon started, "what you have is the Keyblade, but it combined with your saber and became  
the Keysaber. It is the one thing that can stop the Heartless. The Heartless are a race of creatures born with no hearts, they must still others to have their own........"  
  
"......so, you see, your coming here was no accident, it seems your destinied to save the worlds  
from destruction by the Heartless."  
"So your saying that Ryan's Keysaber is the only thing that can save the worlds?" Charmy asked.  
"Right, and he'll need your help."  
"Don't worry," Shadow said, "we'll help all we can."  
"Okay, they're in the next room, let's......." Aerith started to say, until the room filled with   
heartless.  
  
"Oh, no. They found us faster than I thought." Leon said.  
"Hurry go!" Yuffie said, throwing me out the window.  
"Hey, Whoa!" I shouted, hitting the ground.  
I was in the third district.  
The Heartless were appearing in droves.  
"This isn't going to go well."  
  
Up on the balcony, Sonic, Shadow and Charmy had their hands full as well.  
"Man, they just keep coming." Sonic said, slicing through another one.  
"Look, isn't that Ryan?" Charmy said, pointing down towards the plaza.  
"It is. Hurry, we've got to help him." Shadow said as the three of them jumped down.  
  
'Oh, no. I'm pinned down.' I thought to myself.  
I can't beleive I was going to lose, I'd never see Charmy again......  
Suddenly half the heartless were wiped out in a flash.  
"HUH?!" I said, then I noticed Sonic and Shadow to my right.  
"Am I glad to see you guys!" I shouted.  
I saw a flash of light, and another couple of Heartless bit the dust.  
"Who?" I said, then saw Charmy land next to me.  
"Sorry I'm late, love. Let's finish these guys." Charmy said, readying her gun.  
"Right, charge!" I said, as we assaulted the remaining Heartless.  
I sliced through a few, Charmy zapped a good deal of them, and Sonic and Shadow cleaned up the  
rest of them.  
  
"Is that all of them?" Sonic asked.  
"I hope so." Charmy said.  
I wouldn't count on it, I sensed a large source of energy heading this way......  
As if on cue, a dark portal opened and six pieces of armor fell through it before it closed.  
"Um, what is that?" Shadow said.  
Sonic walked closer to the armor.  
"Sonic! Get back! That's a Heartless!" I shouted, but it was too late.  
The armor came to life and threw Sonic back against the wall.  
"Charmy, go check on him. Shadow, come with me, let's take this guy out." I said.  
The armor formed a shape and started its attack.  
"Shadow, attack one part at a time, if we wear it down piece by piece, then we have a better chance of beating it."  
We focused on the arms first, which was hard because the Heartless would throw them out and  
attack us with a spinning attack.  
We managed to avoid the attacks and take out his arms....  
  
...meanwhile, Sonic was finally coming to.  
"Ugh, Damn Heartless." Sonic said, clutching his head.  
"You okay?" Charmy asked.  
"Yeah, let me at him." Sonic said, charging his spin dash attack.  
Sonic dashed through, and knocked out both of the armor's legs.  
"Sonic! Good shot man, glad your feeling better." Shadow said.  
"Okay, that leaves his body and head....huh? What's he doing?" I asked.  
The armor flipped his body and was using it like a gun?  
It charged the armor and fired a laser beam at us.  
We barely ducked out of the way and he missed us.  
"Guys focus your attack at one time so we can combine them." I said.  
I threw my Keysaber, Charmy let loose with a huge blast from her Ray Gun, and Sonic attacked with  
Sonic Wind and Shadow attacked with Chaos Spear.  
Our attacks combined and charged my Keysaber, it striking the Heartless dead on.  
It pierced right through it and it exploded in a huge fireball.  
The hearts it had stolen were now freed and I grabbed back my 'Keysaber'.  
  
"There that takes care of that." I said.  
We met back up with the Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith.  
"So, you seem to be living up to the prophecy of the Keymaster." Leon said.  
"Yes, but we need to seal the keyholes if we are to save the worlds." Aerith said.  
"Seal keyholes?" Shadow asked.  
"Right, each world has a keyhole, that's how the Heartless get through, if they get control of  
the keyhole, they will destroy that world....." Yuffie said.  
"So, that's what happend to our Earth?" Charmy asked.  
Leon nodded.  
"Well, we must move on then, where is the first world we need to save?" Charmy asked.  
"It doesn't matter, how would we get from one to the other with no transportation." I said.  
"Go see Cid from the Item Shop, he'll help you with that." Yuffie said.  
We said our goodbyes and they wished us luck.  
After we were out of earshot, "So do you think he'll really do it?" Leon asked.  
"We must have faith in them....they are the only hope." Aerith said.  
  
-------------------------  
Traverse Town: Item Shop  
  
"Hey Cid." I said, walking in with my friends.  
"Ryan, I see you've found your friends."  
"Yeah, I was wondering if you could help with some transportation."  
"What kind?"  
"Leon and Yuffie said you would know what kind."  
"Wait, Leon and Yuffie, then you must be the Keymaster."  
"Yeah, I guess I am."  
"Okay, follow me."  
Cid led us to the pier outside Traverse Town.  
  
"Here she is, my personal gummi ship." Cid said.  
"Gummi ship?" Sonic asked.  
"Yes, it's built out of a material that allows for transdimensional space travel, its the only way to go."  
Cid tossed me the igniton key.  
"Take care of this and good luck, Keymaster."  
"I will and don't worry, we won't fail." I said as we climbed into the cockpit.  
Cid waved goodbye as we took of for the next world.  
"I've got a feeling about those guys....they're going to go places......." Cid said as our ship  
disappeared from sight.  
  
------------------------  
Space Between Worlds  
  
"So, you guys ready?" I said.  
"I was born ready, 'teddy bear'." Charmy said, resting on my shoulder  
"Time to play hero, again." Sonic said.  
"Hey, it was getting boring anyway. I'm ready for adventure."  
"Okay, then, I'm setting course, Next stop a new adventure...." I said, initiating the hyper drive as we took off for a new world....... 


	3. Crossing Realities

DDR HEARTS: Crossing Realities  
By  
Sega1cool

A/N: Hey, next stop well, you'll see soon enough...Ryan's POV...let's get down...

-------------------------  
Space Between Dimensions

"Hey, Charmy. Wake up. We're almost there." I said, nudging Charmy, who had fallen asleep.  
"yawn Already?"  
"Yeah, what world is this?" Sonic asked.  
"Don't know, let's see what the analyzer says." I said, checking the control panel.  
Welcome to Mobius II. A parrallel world similar to Mobius, but with a few differences. The main  
struggle is between a group of anthropomorphic animals known as the Freedom Fighters and an  
evil despot known as Eggman. Although humans once populated this planet as well, most were  
wiped out in Eggman's coup against the royal family of Acorn. Few humans exist, but unknown humans are known to have arrived through a greater power, not even understood by current studies.  
"Hey, didn't you say that Mobius II was where my friend Tom was?" I asked Charmy.  
"Yeah, maybe we should meet up with him first." Charmy said.  
"Right, okay, prepare to disembark everyone."

--------------------------  
Mobius II: Great Forest

We walked through the lush forest.  
Between you and me, I was wondering why things were so quiet...it was as if the  
entire planet had just stopped when we landed.  
According to the info from the gummi ship, the Freedom Fighters base was somewhere  
in this forest.  
"Hey, Ryan? You hear that?" Sonic said, snapping me out of my daydreaming.  
"Shh..." I said, trying to listen.  
I could here footsteps, but they were a little way off...I also heard machinery, that  
couldn't be good.  
"Come on, this way!" I shouted, running in the direction of the noises.

A familiar hedgehog was running, carrying another hedgehog in his arms.  
"Hurry, Sonic, they're getting closer." she said.  
"I'm trying, Amy, but your too heavy." he said.  
Amy frowned at this, but it soon passed.  
But, unfortunately, they were pinned down.  
"Now what, Sonic?"  
"We pray..."  
Suddenly, as if on cue, several of the machines were blown up.  
"What!" Sonic shouted, seeing two humans, another hedgehog and...another him!  
"Guess we got here just in time." I said, taking out another two bots.  
Charmy zapped a few and went to check on Amy and Sonic.  
"Huh? But weren't you just...nevermind, hurry, they'll hold 'em off, we need to go." Charmy said.  
"Uh...right!" Sonic said, taking off with Amy.  
Shadow and Sonic cleaned up the rest of those robots and we followed the other Sonic.

"So, um, where are we going?" I asked, trying to keep up with him.  
"Well, I shouldn't, but I'm taking you to Knothole Village...I figure that if you  
helped us, you can't be all that bad...plus I'd like to have a talk with my lookalike  
there." Sonic said pointing to Sonic.  
We arrived at a wooded area and he stopped.  
"What's wrong?" I said, stopping and putting down Charmy who I was carrying.  
"We're here..." (Sonic) said. (A/N: Sonic is the one from my world, (Sonic) is the one from this world.)  
"But there's nothing here..." Shadow said.  
(Sonic) went over and pulled on a vine, popping open a secret passage from underneath  
a tree stump.  
"Pretty clever." I said.  
"Come on, let's go." (Sonic) said.  
He jumped in first, followed by Amy, then me, then Charmy, then Sonic and finally Shadow.

-----------------------------  
Unknown Location

"Damn, they've managed to beat it." Cell said, angry at its failure.  
"It seems him and his friends are more powerful than we first thought." Vile added.  
"No matter, those fools will not survive this next challenge..." Tiesel said.  
"Moving on, how goes the search for the "Keyhole"?" General Mokuvai said.  
"We are close, we have already found two of the princesses of heart..." a new shadow said, as the shilloutes of two girls were shown.

-----------------------------  
Knothole Village

It was a wild ride down that tunnel, it had more twists and turn than when Sonic tried  
to drive a car.  
When we finally came out, we landed in some hay, I guess it was set up as a cushion  
for the fall.  
"Ow...AH!" I said, as Charmy landed on top of me.  
"Ryan? Where are you?" she asked.  
"Under you, get off!" I shouted.  
"Sorry..." she said, getting off me.  
Ow, that wasn't pleasant, much as I would like Charmy on top of me...  
Sonic and Shadow completely missed the hay and hit the ground hard.  
"OW! Man, that landing was harder than Shadow's head." he said.  
"Hey," Shadow said, rubbing his head, "What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Why don't you figure it out?" Sonic said.  
It was then that I noticed our little squabbles had inadvertantly gotten the attention  
of Knothole's inhabitants.  
"Um...Hi." I said, trying to break the silence.  
They just stared at us and gave us a look.  
"Oooookay..." I said, making that annoyed look.

"Um, what's with these guys?" I said to Charmy.  
"I don't know, maybe they're not used to seeing humans." Charmy replied.  
I then noticed the crowd splitting, as if someone was walking through it.  
Three people showed up in front of us...one looked like a half squirrel/half chipmunk, one was the other (Sonic) and the third was...Tom?  
"Hey, Tom, what's up?" I said, walking over to him.  
Suddenly, some guards stopped me.  
"Hey, what the deal?" I said, two laser rifles pointed at me.  
"It's okay, I know him." I heard Tom say to the half squirrel/half chipmunk.  
She gave a signal and the guards backed down.  
I walked over to Tom and we did our old, secret handshake.  
"Hey, man...it's been awhile." I said.  
"Yeah, so, whatcha doing here...and more importantly, how did you get here?"  
"Well...it started about, I guess two days ago...and so we used the gummi ship  
to get here." I said.  
"Ah, I see, so these 'Heartless' are attacking worlds huh?" the squirrel/chipmunk said.  
She wanted to show me something.

We went into a large hut, looked like a meeting hall.  
"First things first, what's your name?" she said.  
"Well, I'm Ryan...that's Charmy...his name's Shadow and that blue guy over there is..."  
"..Sonic." she interupted.  
"Yeah, I kinda figured that you'd know, you've got a Sonic of your own." I said.  
"Yeah, at least this one isn't a maniac...Anyway, my name's Sally."  
"Nice to meet you, so what did you want to show me?"  
"This..." Sally said, bringing up a hologram.  
"Our enemy, Eggman, has some new kind of Swat Bot he's been using."  
I looked at it...hmmm, that's odd, it kinda looked like a Heartless...  
"After what you've said, we've concluded that Eggman must be using these to create  
some hybrid robot, which explains (Sonic's) trouble with them earlier."  
"Yeah, it's a good thing we came along."  
"Well, we need to see what he's up to, and I'd like your help." she said.  
Hmmmm, I know we shouldn't meddle, but what choice do we have?  
"Okay, we'll help...just get us when your ready to go." I said, walking outside with  
the others.

"Man, this is wierd." Charmy said, walking around Knothole with me.  
"What is?" I asked.  
"All these anthros..."  
"So? It's not different than my Earth...and you've been around Sonic and Shadow for  
a while when we were on the DDRist Kingdom."  
"Yeah, but there were also humans there on your Earth, here we're like the outsiders."  
"I can see your point, but let's not be judgemental. From what I've heard, this Eggman  
dude is pretty evil."  
We walked a little while till we reached a pond.  
"Wow, its beautiful." Charmy said, sitting down on a log.  
"Yeah, it is, kinda reminds me of Earth." I said, sitting down next to her.  
It was hard to think that with something as peaceful as this, that this planet was in  
turmoil.  
I heard someone coming and it was the two Sonic's.  
"Hey, Sonic." I said, waving to them.  
"Hey." they both said in unison.  
"Okay, that was wierd." Charmy said.

"So, what're you talking about?" I said to (Sonic).  
"Just swapping stories about our adventures." Sonic said.  
"Hey he was talking to me." (Sonic) said.  
"How can you tell?" Sonic asked.  
"He's calling me (Sonic), your just Sonic." (A/N: This is confusing )  
"Oh, okay...hey, why's the pond glowing?" Sonic asked.  
"That means a 'Power Ring' is coming." (Sonic) said.  
He went over to the edge and a ring-shaped object came out.  
It hummed as (Sonic) held it and then it stopped glowing.  
"Wow, condensed energy, quite impressive." I said.  
"What's it do?" Charmy asked.  
"It gives me a power boost whenever need it, but its a one time use." (Sonic) said.  
"Hey, mind if I hold it?" I said.  
"Sure, here, catch." (Sonic) said, tossing it to me.  
I grabbed ahold of it and felt the warmth of its power.  
"Mind if I keep it for now?" I asked.  
"Sure, they'll be another in awhile, so go ahead."  
"Cool," I said, pocketing it, "Man, its starting to get dark."  
"Yeah," (Sonic) said, "Night isn't too good around here, but we need sleep, unless we  
want Eggman to win...I wish there was some way to beat him."  
"How long have you guys been trying?" Sonic asked.  
"Too long...but we gotta have faith...Tom's been a big help, so maybe that day is  
soon..." (Sonic) said.

"So, uh, do you guys need somewhere to sleep?" (Sonic) asked.  
"Thanks for the offer, but we can rest on the Gummi ship." I said.  
"Well, that's good, cause I don't think we could've found somewhere for you to sleep."  
(Sonic) said with a laugh.  
"Yeah, I guess me and Ryan are kinda out of place." Charmy said.  
"Yeah, but you humans seem to be popping up all over the place lately." (Sonic) said jokingly.  
"We tend to make that a bad habit." I said.  
Sonic went to his hut and we headed back to the Gummi ship.

-------------------------  
Gummi Ship

"It's pretty tight how this thing can transform." I said.  
"Yeah, Cid really knows how to take care of his machines." Shadow said, jumping into  
his bed.  
"Yeah, he knows how to make it work." Charmy said, getting into our bed.  
"Well, it's time to get some sleep. Won't be much help tired." Sonic said.  
"Right." I said, turning off the lights and climbing into bed.  
Charmy and I cuddled for a bit and then fell asleep.  
Shadow was mumbling something about triangles..(A/N: He's too strange sometimes...--)  
Sonic was snoring, I was suprised we fell asleep.  
I didn't dream that night, it was wierd.  
Usually I had some wierdass dream and it became a premonition, but this time nothing.  
I guess being in her arms just helped, me being her 'teddy bear'.  
I'd never tell her this, but she's the only one who can call me that...it's something  
special between us, you know?  
I just act like I don't like it so she thinks she's getting to me...oh, my I've  
prattled on again and the sun is up...I wonder what will happen today?

---------------------------  
Next Morning

I woke up and noticed the others were already up.  
"Oh well, old habits die hard..." I said, getting up.  
I walked outside and saw the others there.  
"Ryan, you, uh, might want to comb your hair." Charmy said.  
"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, looking for a mirror.  
"It's as spiky and messed up as Charmy's." Shadow said.  
"Ah, your right." I said, finally seeing it in the mirror.  
I combed my hair, ha, it's never looked this neat.

We had breakfast and waited for Sally and the other Freedom Fighters.  
"So, uh, what do you think this Eggman has up his sleeve?" Sonic asked.  
"I don't know," I said, "from what I've heard, he's pretty evil and despicable."  
"It's disturbing what he did to the anthros and his own kind...what kind of evil are we talking about here?" Charmy said.  
"I don't know, but we've got to win...and stop the heartless." Shadow said.  
After a collective agreement, Sally and the others finally showed up.

"Hey, hoped you slept well...you tended to have bad sleeping habits back on Earth." Tom said, trying to rile me up.  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You haven't changed a bit either." I said back.  
"If you two are quite finished...I swear, you two are as bad as (Sonic) and (Knuckles). Anyway, we've gained word of where the plant is that Eggman is making these  
'Shadow Heart' robots...we hope to finish it off and stop his plans." Sally said.  
"That's going to be tough." I said, "The heartless were bad enough on their own, now  
that they're cybernetic and we're attacking their base...we need to be ready for  
anything." I said.  
"Don't worry, we've had a mole for quite some time and he's clued us into two weaknesses of the base. We'll breach the perimeter there and then meet up with the mole." Sally said.  
"Okay, sounds like a plan." Charmy said.  
"Let's go!" I shouted, leading the way...till I realized I had no idea where it was.  
"Uh...which way?" I asked.  
Everyone fell over and Tom made a smartass remark.  
I felt a little angered, but we made our way through the forest to...

------------------------  
Shadow Heart factory

We arrived on the outskirts of Robotropolis, Eggman's version of the once peaceful  
Mobotropolis.  
"Hey, Tom, I forgot to tell you something..." I said.  
"What's that?" he asked.  
"Thanks for using your little favor from those server dudes to send Charmy back to me,  
I appreciate it." I said.  
"No prob, bro...I always ended getting them to do favors for me." Tom said putting  
his fist out.  
I put mine out and we hit them together, just like the old days.

"Okay, here's how it goes." Sally said, "Tom's going to go with your group, Ryan. My  
group is going to run distraction while you look for our mole."  
"Okay," I said, readying my Keysaber.  
Charmy readied her gun, and Sonic and Shadow were cracking their knuckles.  
"Just be careful, and try not to get spotted." Sally said, her team running off to  
create interference.  
"You guys ready?" I asked.  
The others nodded their head in agreement.  
It was time to Rock 'n Roll.

"Shh, someone's coming." I said, as we ducked behind a hallway.  
A large, egg-shaped man followed by a shorter, skinny man were talking.  
"Ah, sir, it seems those pesky Freedom Fighters are here." the shorter one said.  
"Well, Snively, get on it." the egg-shaped man yelled.  
"Yes sir!" Snively said, running past us.  
"Hmmm, I better watch out, they may have teamed up with him..." the egg-shaped man  
said, walking off.  
"Who was that?" I asked Tom.  
"That was Eggman...he's the bastard responsible for all of this." Tom replied.  
"Him? Well, no wonder you call him Eggman." Sonic said.  
"Yeah, okay, the coast looks clear. Which way Tom?" I asked.  
"This way, and move swiftly." he said, leading the way.

We arrived at what looked like the a dead end.  
"Um, where now?" Shadow asked.  
"Watch." Tom said, knocking on the wall in five strategic locations.  
The wall soon lifted up and it led into a tunnel.  
"Very nice." I said, all of us heading into the tunnel.  
We walked on for awhile until we reached a bright room.  
Inside was one person, a human suprisingly enough, sitting at a computer desk.  
"Yo, Jake." Tom yelled.  
"Jake?" I said.  
The person turned around and stood up.  
"Hey, Tom...yo, Ryan! What's up, man?" Jake said, as we did our handshake.  
"But dude, how? I found out you had infiltrated G.U.N. back on Earth, but then you,  
well, kinda got killed...after they discovered you were a mole." I said.  
"Yeah, to make a long story short...after I died trying to stop G.U.N. I ended up  
in this wierd dimension."  
"Let me guess, the 'Dimension of Heroes'?" I said.  
"Yeah, how did you know? Anyway, the people there kinda sent me here to help, said Tom  
was slacking off..."  
"Sounds like the Tom I know." I said, laughing.  
"sniffle It feels so good to know your loved." Tom said, really laying on the sarcasm.

"So, what you got for us?" I asked Jake.  
"Well, if you want to put this place out of commision, there's two things we need to take out."  
"And they would be?" Charmy asked.  
"This and this." Jake said, showing shots of a generator and a strange contraption.  
"What the hell is that thing?" I said, pointing at the contraption.  
"That's the robotocizer...you don't want to end up there." Jake said.  
"Robotocizer?" Charmy asked.  
"It's what Eggman used to take over so quickly...It's a machine that turns flesh and  
blood creatures, such as anthros and humans, into cold, heartless machines." Tom said.  
"Hey, Charmy, that's kinda like what G.U.N. used on Astro." I said.  
"Yeah, you're right. I wonder if Eggman and G.U.N. were maybe working together." she replied.

Just then a voice burst in.  
"Ha, you're much smarter than you look, human." Eggman said.  
"But how did you find us?" I asked.  
"Your little friends told me...after some persuassion."  
"What did you do to them!" I demanded.  
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." Eggman said, as some Shadow Hearts attacked us and  
captured us.

--------------------------  
Detainment cell: Level 2

"Damn, I can't beleive we got caught!" (Sonic) said.  
"Chill, we've got to think of a way out of here." Jake said.  
"Hey, Tom, anyway you can break that camera up there?" I asked.  
"Yeah, but why?"  
"Just do it."  
Tom nodded and focused, shooting a beam of energy out of his hand and blowing up the  
security cam.  
"Okay, time to get out of here." I said.  
I concentrated and force grabbed my Keysaber.  
I turned it on and slashed through the bars.  
The bars melted like butter as I went and freed the others from their prison cells.  
"Way Past Cool!" (Sonic) said, giving me the thumb-up.  
"Okay, let's blow the generator and the robotocizer, then get the hell out of here."  
Jake said.

---------------------------  
Generator Room

"Hmm, if I didn't know better, I'd say Eggman is oblivious to our escape." Shadow said.  
"Right," I said, rolling my eyes at the obvious, "how's it going guys?"  
"Last one. This place will look like the 4th of July when these things go off." Tom said, arming it.  
"Okay, we're all set here." Sally said, whipping out her communicator, "How's things going on your end?"

---------------------------  
Robotocizer Chamber

"Jake here, we're almost done Sally." Jake said.  
"There, that's the last of them." Charmy said, arming them.  
"Okay, we'll meet you at the usual spot...wait, what's that?" Jake said.  
The next is what Sally heard through the communicator:  
"Shit, it's Eggman, stop...can't...meet you...no...run!..."  
Then dead silence...

----------------------------  
Generator Room

"What happend?" I asked.  
"I don't know, it's as if the line just died." Sally said.  
"Well, let's head to the meeting place and see what happend." Tom said.  
We ran off and headed towards the usual place.

----------------------------  
Outskirts of Robotropolis

We waited for the others to arrive.  
"This isn't good, where are they?" I said.  
"Wait look." Tom said.  
Running towards us were (Sonic) and Jake...I didn't see Charmy.  
"Guys, what happend?" Sally asked.  
"And where's Charmy?" I asked.  
"Eggman...he...he barged in on us and we tried to get away, but..." (Sonic) said.  
"He, he has Charmy and threatened to robotocize her if we set of the bombs." Jake said.  
"No..." I said, "NO! I've gotta stop him." I said running off.  
"Ryan, wait!" Tom said, but it was too late.  
"It's all dependent on him now..."

--------------------------------  
Robotocizer Chamber

"Ha, is it comfortable in there?" Eggman said, laughing at Charmy.  
"Ugh, just wait, Ryan will come and then you'll pay." Charmy said.  
"Oh, I'm counting on it. You humans just keep appearing, your like a virus...one that is about to take on a new form." Eggman said, throwing the switch.  
"Noooo..." Charmy shouted, Metal replacing skin and cooling fluid replacing blood.

I ran into the room, angry and very pissed.  
"Eggman!" I shouted.  
"My, my, that was quick. Too bad it wasn't quick enough."  
"What do you mean?" I asked.  
"Say hello to the new and improved Charmy." Eggman said, stepping to the side.  
"No..."  
Charmy was no longer the happy, kind, loving creature that was my girlfriend, she was  
now just a metallic shell, no mind of her own.  
"Charmy, are you in there?" I said, trying to search her mind.  
"Ha, her mind is mine now...Isn't that right, Charmy?"  
"Bzzt, yes master Eggman..." Charmy said.  
"No, I won't give up." I said.  
She still had to be in there, she had to...yes, I found her mind.  
"Now, finish him off."  
Charmy ran into me, knocking me over.  
"Charmy please try to remember." I said, holding her back.  
She didn't listen and kept attacking me.  
'What can I do? What is there that will remind her?' I thought.  
Then something caught my eye, she was still wearing my Millenium Arrow.  
It was just crazy enough to work.

I pulled out the power ring (Sonic) had given me and handed it to Charmy.  
"Spirit of my arrow, help Charmy remember our love and our past!" I shouted.  
The arrow flashed brightly and it seemed as if Charmy was going through electro-shock  
as she was enveloped in a bright flash...

----------------------------  
Charmy's mind

"That stupid boyfriend of yours is trying to stop Eggman." said a mecha version of Charmy.  
"He'll win, I know it." said the normal Charmy.  
"Look, here he comes now..."  
I, or rather the spirit of my arrow who had borrowed my look, was running towards where they were.  
"You won't win, Mecha-Charmy." said this Yami-Ryan.  
"Ha, you stupid humans and your emotions." Mecha-Charmy said, "You always cling to false hope."  
"That's where your wrong...I may just be a spirit, but I've learned a lot since I  
joined up with Ryan, there is one force that can never be matched, Konamison learned  
the hard way, don't make it the same on yourself."  
"Nothing can beat my metallic perfection...give it your best shot." she said, getting in to attack mode.  
"Fine, your choice. I hope you won't regret it." Yami-Ryan said.  
Mecha-Charmy was fast, almost too fast for Yami-Ryan to keep up with.  
"Damn, I missed again." Yami-Ryan said, slicing air.  
"Ha, it's time I finished you." Mecha-Charmy said, aiming her arm laser at Yami-Ryan.  
She fired and scored a direct hit.  
Now by all accounts, Yami-Ryan should be toast by now, but he was unharmed.  
"What? Try this!" Mecha-Charmy said, firing again and again.  
But they had no effect at all.

"How?"  
"It's like I said," Yami-Ryan said, "there is something that humans posses that noone  
can beat...the power of love!"  
Mecha-Charmy was now feeling just a bit worried.  
"Ha, right, how can it be so strong? Love is an imperfection."  
"Oh, yeah, then try look at these memories and see what true power is..."  
Yami-Ryan began to project images into Mecha-Charmy's mind.  
Of when Ryan and Charmy first met, that spark they felt, every moment when they had  
been together in each other's embrace, the loving nickname Ryan had been given, and  
every other loving memory they had shared.  
Mecha-Charmy began to short circuit, she just couldn't comprehend the emotion of love.  
Yami-Ryan took this opprotunity to slice and dice Mecha-Ryan.  
The real Charmy was freed from her bond and regained control.  
"Your safe, good. Then my job is done. You better hurry back, Ryan's waiting for you."  
Yami-Ryan said, disappearing.  
Charmy began to slip back into consciousness...

------------------------------  
Robotocizer Chamber

I was holding Charmy in my hands...somehow she had turned back into her normal self.  
"Please, Charmy, come back!" I shouted, crying, my head on her shoulder.  
I couldn't lose her, not this way.  
Charmy began to come to.  
"Ryan?"  
"Charmy? Thank God!" I said, giving her a huge hug.  
"Oh, 'teddy bear'..." she said.

After the emotions ran their course, Charmy surveyed the room.  
"What happend?" she asked.  
"Well, after the spirit took your body away, I was really pissed. I was about to kill  
Eggman...it would have been the humane thing to do...but then those heartless came  
and overran his dark heart. He's gone and for good this time. That was about a minute  
before you came back."  
"Wow, well, let's rerigged the explosives and meet with the others."  
We rearmed the bombs, I picked her up, and we jetted out of there.

-------------------------------  
Outskirts of Robotropolis

"Why are we stopping here?" Charmy asked me.  
"So we can see the fireworks...the others have already headed back to Knothole." I said.  
I pulled out a detonation remote...  
"Drumroll please.." I asked.  
Charmy did a little drumroll to humor me.  
"3,2,1...Boom Time!" I shouted, pushing the detonator.  
Nothing happend.  
"Ryan, shouldn't there be a..."  
BOOOM!  
"Time delay..." I said.  
The generator went up in smoke, it was beautiful.  
"I so love fireworks." Charmy said, hugging me.  
"Yeah, and now for the Robotocizer..." I said, pushing it again.  
BOOOOOOOM!  
It was as if the sun was out, whatever was powering that thing, it was explosive.  
"Well, mission accomplished. Let's head back." I said, picking her up.

--------------------------------  
Knothole

The others in Knothole were a little shocked by the sudden explosions.  
"What the hell was that?" Tom said.  
Just then I came back, Charmy behind me.  
"Hey, we're back." I said, waving to the crowd.  
"Ryan, you did it." Jake said.  
"Man, you really want to play the sympathy act." I said jokingly.  
You see, Jake was in bandages and his arm was set in a cast.  
"Yeah, I must try to hard."  
"What were those explosions?" Sally asked, just arriving.  
"Well, let's just say that Eggman and the heartless are no longer a problem you need  
concern yourself with..."  
"You mean you killed..." Tom started to say.  
"No, the heartless were too much for him...he's gone now."  
"Well, it looks like we finally won." (Sonic) said.  
"Yeah, thanks to you guys, we're finally free." Sally said.

----------------------------------  
Knothole: Ring Pool

Charmy and I had gone and sat near the ring pool.  
"Well, we beat Eggman, but we didn't find the Keyhole..." I said, disheartend.  
"Don't worry, we'll find it, we have to."  
(Sonic) soon walked our way.  
"Hey guys, what's up?" he asked.  
"Oh, nothing...just talking." I said.  
"What're you doing here?" Charmy asked.  
"New ring is coming up, might as well grab it." he said, heading to the edge.

As the ring came up, something weird happend.  
The ring turned vertical and floated in front of us.  
"Well, this is new." (Sonic) said.  
"Wait, look at the middle." I said.  
"It's the Keyhole." Charmy said.  
Sure enough, right in the middle of the ring was this world's Keyhole.  
"Okay, let's seal this." I said.  
I pulled out my Keysaber and aimed it at the ring.  
A beam of light shot out from my Keysaber and hit the ring, locking the Keyhole, which  
disappeared.  
A weird gummi popped out of the Keyhole and Charmy picked it up.  
"What's this? It looks like a Gummi." she said.  
"Well, let's head back to Cid and see if he knows what it is." I said.

My group walked back to our Gummi ship, the others following to see us off.  
"Tom, Jake, take care of yourselves, things definitely won't be easy...even if Eggman is gone." I said.  
"Yeah, we will," Tom said, "you just go stop the Heartless...and take care of that girl of yours."  
Charmy blushed.  
"Sally, (Sonic), you guys keep on working. Now that Eggman's gone, maybe you can  
recreate the world you once knew." Sonic said.  
"Thanks, that means a lot coming from me." (Sonic) said, joking around.  
"We wish you luck, go defeat the Heartless and save the universe." Sally said.  
"Thanks, see ya."  
We said our goodbyes and got into the Gummi Ship.

---------------------------  
Space Between Dimensions

"Well, it's nice to know some of my friends are still alive." I said.  
"Right, so what now?" Charmy said.  
"Well, I figure we should ask Cid about this Gummi and then head to the next world." I said.  
"Okay, then set a course." Sonic said.  
"Hey, that's my line..." I said.  
We took off, back through hyperspace, towards our next adventure... 


	4. Don't You Feel This Is In Vane?

DDR HEARTS: Don't You Feel This Is In Vane?  
By  
Sega1cool  
  
  
  
-----------------------  
Space Between Worlds  
  
  
"....so, we need to find the other half of this gummi then." Charmy said.  
"Yeah, according to what Cid said, once we do, we'll be able to open the way  
to other worlds." I said.  
"Well, let's do one thing at a time." Shadow said, "Where to next?"  
"Hmmm, well let's see........I can't beleive it." I said.  
"What?" Charmy said.  
"Well, I let you see when we get there....." I said, putting the ship into hyperdrive.  
  
We finally reached our destination, a small unassuming planet with a blue moon.  
"So, what's the big surprise?" Charmy asked.  
"This." I said, punching up the description.  
Lunar: This planet is populated by many humans and humanoid type creatures. Magic is  
a common skill that most have on this planet, although not all do know it. Notable   
places include Dragon Caves, The Blue Spire, and Vane. Vane is the self-proclaimed  
magic capital of Lunar, where your magic skill determines your worth.......  
"Wait, isn't this where Terry and Mia were from?" Sonic said.  
"Right," I said, "so let's go see 'em!"   
Suddenly something, I'm not sure why, reminded me of what Charmy said.  
"Charmy, somethings been bugging me....Remember when you said Mia had used the last  
of her strength to send you back.....does that mean she's....."  
"Dead? No, she merely used what magic she could, as the trip between dimensions had  
been too much for her....She said she'd be able to get back after she rested, so I  
left her in the care of the others....she should be back by now."  
"Oh, cool, I guess." I said.  
We disembarked for the outskirts of Vane.  
  
--------------------------  
Outskirts of Vane  
  
"Wow! This place is beautiful." Charmy said.  
"Yeah, it sure is, now where do you suppose Terry and Mia would be?" I said.  
"Well, here's an idea," Shadow said, "signal him with your force abilities."  
"Oh my God! Shadow actually said something smart for once." Sonic said.  
I laughed, now that was indeed funny.  
I attempted to locate his thoughts.....but I couldn't find his mind.  
"That's odd, it's as if he's not here.....or he's out of range." I said.  
"Well, considering they were in Vane the last time, maybe we should head there." Charmy said.  
"Okay, let's head there."  
We headed towards Vane, but there was one problem......  
"How the hell is it floating in the sky?" Sonic asked.  
"I don't know, but I think I can sense Terry's presence coming from Vane, so we must  
be getting close." I said.  
"So, how do we get up there?" Charmy asked.  
That was the question wasn't it? I then noticed a tower in the distance.  
"Hey, why don't we head towards that tower? Someone there might be able to help us." I said.  
We decided that was the best course of action.  
  
-------------------------  
At the Tower  
  
When we arrived at the Tower, no one was there.  
"Okay, is this creeping anyone else out?" Shadow said.  
"Yeah, I mean, where is everyone?" Sonic asked.  
"I don't know, but let's go in." I said.  
  
Inside there was just some panels and a glowing glyph on the floor.  
"Um, this doesn't look anymore appealing." Charmy said.  
"I don't know why, but I'm something is telling me to step onto the glyph." I said.  
"Well, I don't see anything else we can do, so let's go for it." Shadow said.  
We stepped on the glyph...it lit up....and we appeared in....  
  
-------------------------  
Vane  
  
"Whoa, that was new." Charmy said.  
"Yeah, we kinda like teleported, didn't we?" Sonic asked.  
"Yeah, so where now?" Shadow said.  
"Well, there." I said, pointing to the only entrance.  
We walked through and we were greeted by a woman in a cloak.  
"Welcome to Vane. Only those magically gifted may enter. If you would please step into  
the circle, all will be revealed." she said.  
"Ooookay. Well, lets go guys." I said as we stepped into the circle.  
There was a bright flash and we appeared in a cage with an opening.  
"Well, it seems you all have magical abilities....Welcome to Vane!" she said.  
  
"Uh, Ryan, when did we learn magic?" Shadow asked me.  
"Well, it seems that since we've been fighting the Heartless, that every boss we defeat gives us some magic."  
"So, we learned some by beating that armor and Eggman?" Charmy asked.  
"Right, we should know Fira and Blizzard." I said.  
"Cool, we know magic." Sonic said.  
I then sensed a presence I hadn't felt in a long time.  
"Guys, this way." I said.  
  
-------------------------  
Vane: Arcade  
  
I stepped into the 'Magic Arcade'(A/N: Yeah, originality is one of my strongpoints.)   
and saw, of all things, a DDR machine.  
And who else did I see on it but....  
"Go Terry." someone in the crowd said.  
Yep, Terry was showing off his skill as usual.  
I waited till it was the next turn.  
"Okay, who's going with me next?" Terry asked.  
Of course, I was never one to pass up a challenge.  
"I will!" I said, walking onto the machine.  
"Ryan? Dude, it is you." Terry said, giving me a high-five.  
"Yeah, now I know why I couldn't get in contact with you telepathicly. You were too   
busy showing off." I said.  
"Ha, funny. Now, you gonna face me or what?" he asked.  
"Sure, let's DDR!" I said.  
I won't bore you with the details of our face-off, but let's just say that those   
watching will never forget our battle that day.  
As we stepped off, we were both tired.  
"It's been awhile since I've had a challenge." Terry said.  
"Hey, I aim to please." I said.  
  
After we rested and got something to drink, we sat down and talked.  
"So what're you doing here?" Terry asked, "And how is Charmy with you?"  
"Well..........and so we're going to face the Heartless and beat them."  
"Wow! I had no idea Mia had done that. I knew she looked tired that day she returned,  
but I didn't know that was what she did. These Heartless sound like trouble."  
"Yeah, we need to watch out for them, they can appear just like that." I said.  
"Okay, well, we'll worry about that later, for now let's go see Mia and fill her in."  
Terry said, leading us to a castle.  
"So, Mia lives here?" Charmy asked.  
"Yep, let go in." Terry said.  
  
---------------------------  
Inside Castle Vane  
  
"So, after he was founded out, you were forgiven and returned to normal, eh?" I asked Terry.  
"Yeah....when we got back, Mia's mother was glad to see us, but things hadn't been   
well. It seems that her assistant had tried and failed to overtake her throne. After  
he was banished, she realized the mistake she'd made and when we returned, she restored our bodies to their original forms. So now, I'm part of the upper group here,  
and while I don't agree with their methods, I'm trying to get some changes made.....  
they just haven't been too acceptable." Terry explained.  
"Cool, but I guess the people here are too set in their ways." Charmy said.  
"Yeah, but what are ya going to do?" Terry said with a laugh.  
  
We wound our way through the castle and came upon Mia's room.  
"Hey, Mia, you in there?" Terry asked.  
"Yeah, come on in." Mia said.  
Terry walked in and sat next to her.  
"Hey, I've got a surprise." Terry said.  
"Really? What kind?" she asked.  
"Well, look." Terry said, motioning us to come in.  
We walked into her room, it was big and decorated well, obviously showing her place in  
life.  
"Ryan, Charmy! Sonic and Shadow!" Mia said.  
It was nice to see Mia again.  
I thanked her for helping get Charmy back.  
"Oh, it's nothing. We're friends remember? It's the least I could do." Mia said.  
"Yeah, but thanks." I said.  
"Well, she may have helped you, but she also helped me, too." Terry said.  
"What are you talking about?" I asked.  
"Well...." he started to say until a certain female wearing snow clothes and a beanie  
came running in.  
"Emi?!" Charmy and I said at the same time.  
"Oh, uh, hey guys." she said.  
"What's the problem?" Terry asked.  
"Something or someone is attacking. Some kind of shadowy creatures." Emi said.  
We all looked at each other.  
"Heartless...." we all said at the same time.  
Emi led us to the where the Heartless were.  
  
--------------------------  
Castle Courtyard  
  
Just as Emi had said, there were Heartless, dressed as magicians, all around.  
"Heeeellllpppp!" said a random crowd member, set ablaze.  
"Blizzard!" I shouted, shooting the cool blast at him, putting out the fire.  
"Thanks, and be careful!" he said, running off.  
"So you know magic too, eh?" Mia said.  
"Yeah, one of the benefits of fighting the Heartless." I said.  
Terry drew his lightsaber and I drew my Keysaber.  
"Nice! When did you upgrade it?" Terry asked.  
"Oh, well, the funny thing is, it upgraded itself." I said, "Anyway, let's take down  
those Heartless."  
Terry and I hacked and slashed the Heartless, Mia blasted away with her magic spells,  
Sonic and Shadow sliced through them, and Charmy used her magic to power up her gun.  
After about two waves of these enemies, they finally let up.  
"Phew, good." I said, holstering the Keysaber.  
"You guys have been doing this, how long?" Terry asked.  
"Too long." Charmy said with a laugh.  
After the little incident with these Heartless, we went and relaxed at the castle.  
  
---------------------------  
Castle Rec Room  
  
I must say, Mia knows how to live. This Rec Room was as good as mine..........almost.  
Terry and I were playing on a 5th mix machine, Sonic and Shadow were resting on the  
sofa and couch, and Mia, Emi, and Charmy were having some cocoa and talking.  
"So, Emi," Charmy said, "How'd you get here?"  
"Well, it has some to do with Mia......you see, after you left, Mia was out of it. She  
was unconscious for who knows how long, I think it was close to two weeks till she  
regained consciousness. After she awoke, she said her goodbyes and created a   
dimensional gap back to her world....." Emi said.  
"Yeah, I remember leaving, but the portal wouldn't close right away for some reason." Mia said.  
"Well....that's my doing. I wanted to be with Terry, I had missed him so much for the  
longest time....and I knew that Mia's portal was the only thing that could bring me  
back to him, so I went for it....and then I ended up here and went about finding Terry...as you can see, I was sucessful." Emi said.  
"Suffice to say, I wasn't too pleased with Emi, but I was happy to see that she wanted  
to stay with us." Mia said.  
Terry and I walked over and joined them.  
  
Charmy went to hug me, but then saw how sweaty I was.  
"Sheesh, you sweat too much when playing DDR." Charmy said.  
"Hey, so? I love what I do, and you, too." I said, hugging her.  
"Ew! Nasty, I covered in your sweat." Charmy said, throwing me off.  
"Fine, jeez. See if I help you the next time the Heartless attack." I said, walking off.  
"Ryan wait." Charmy said, following me.  
"Those two haven't changed at all." Emi said.  
"That's an understatement." Terry said, hugging Emi.  
"Oh, well. They're happy, just like us." Mia said, joining for a group hug.  
  
-----------------------------  
Courtyard  
  
We had had a nice dinner and we were all resting and watching the night sky.  
"This place is beautiful, it's a lot like Earth was." I said.  
"What do you mean 'was'?" Terry asked me.  
"Well, you know how the Heartless were attacking the other planets...." I said.  
"Yeah, you did mention that." Mia said.  
"Well, they attacked Earth first and well, last I saw, there wasn't much left of it."  
"So, you mean our world is gone?" Sonic asked me.  
"Yeah, our Earth is gone, but if we beat the Heartless, then perhaps our world would  
be returned as well." I said.  
"Well, then we must make sure that the Heartless don't succeed." Shadow said.  
"Yep, we must, we can't let other worlds end up like ours." Charmy said.  
I looked around and noticed the surronding area looked pretty bad.  
"Hey, Mia, how come things are looking bad here? It looks like a war zone." I said.  
Mia sighed and looked a little down.  
"Well, it seems someones been trying to bring down Vane. His name is Ghaleon. He appeared one day and has caused havoc on all of Lunar. Now he's turned his sites on  
Vane."  
"Wow, that can't be good. He sounds strong. But is it possible for him to acutally  
bring down an entire floating island?" I said.  
"I don't know, but its got me worried. He's quite skilled, but maybe you guys can help." Mia said.  
"Well, we'll do what we can while we're here. Once we stop the Heartless, we'll move  
on to the next world and do what we can." I said.  
"Okay, but we can save the world if we're tired." Charmy said, dragging me behind.  
"Hey, wait...I'm not tired......." I said, trying to fight my way out of her grip.  
There was a loud noise and then silence.  
"Um....what just happend?" Mia asked.  
"Well, let's just say Charmy was acting like she always does." Emi said, laughing.  
"Poor Ryan." Terry said.  
  
----------------------------  
Next Morning  
  
I opened my eyes and saw I was on a bed.  
I rubbed my head.  
"Ow, what happend? I remember being in the courtyard....and then....Charmy."  
I looked and saw her laying next to me.  
"Figures, she must have hit me in the head with something."  
Charmy's lucky I'm not a vengeful person, cause there were some things I could've done  
to her if I wanted.  
Instead, being the nice guy that I am, I layed there and waited for her to awake.  
She waked up about two hours later...and they say I sleep in.  
"Morning." Charmy said, acting innocent.  
"Yeah, morning." I said.  
"Um, your head alright?" she asked.  
"Yeah, no thanks to you."  
"Sorry, I don't know what possessed me to do that."  
"I could think of a few things." I mumbled.  
We got up and met with the others.  
  
"Hey, about time you woke up." Terry said with a smile.  
"Yeah, whatever. What's up?" I said.  
"Well, not much right now." Emi said.  
"Yes, but there has been some activity to the North, it doesn't look good." Mia said.  
"Well, we can only hope whatever it is isn't bad." I said.  
  
--------------------------  
North of Vane  
  
"So, is everything prepared?" said a mysterious figure.  
"Yes, Lord Ghaleon. The Heartless assault wave is prepared to distract them. While we  
go from behind and activate 'IT'."  
"Ha, those fools. They will soon learn there is no safety from me, not even up in  
the clouds of Lunar....."  
  
--------------------------  
Vane: Marketplace  
  
We were walking around, just killing time.  
If you looked, Vane really didn't look much different then your average town, just   
that the inhabitants were thrown into different classes a little more severly. There  
were the poor people, I noticed they tended to hide out of site, and then the rich  
people, who were the best dressed and always made it a point to show off how rich they  
were.  
'Man,' I thought to myself, 'its even worse than my Earth was.'  
  
After awhile we came upon a nice looking park.  
"Let's rest." Charmy said, sitting on a bench.  
As soon as she sat on it, it broke and fell apart.  
"Ha, that was funny." I said, giving my hand out to help her.  
"Then you'll find this hilarious." she said, taking my hand and pulling me down.  
I fell forward and hit my head on the ground.  
"That's the second time she's done something to you Ryan." Terry said.  
I got up and helped Charmy up.  
We found some soft grass to sit on and rested for awhile......until....  
  
"Oh, no." I said.  
"What's wrong?" Charmy asked.  
"Heartless." I said.  
"Where?" Terry said, looking around.  
"There." I said, getting up and pointing at some Heartless dressed as soldiers.  
"Well, then you know what we must do." Charmy said, unholstering her gun.  
I grabbed my Keysaber, it was time to rumble.  
  
Terry and I dashed through them, Mia was burnin' and freezin' them, Sonic and Shadow   
were ripping through them, Emi was bashing them with her snowboard,  
and Charmy was shooting them full of holes. Things were  
going fine until......  
BOOOOM!  
It was as if all of Vane was shaking.  
"What the hell was that?" I said.  
  
We ran to a higer point and looked down.  
"What in God's name is that?" Charmy said.  
On the ground below was a huge machine, it looked like a cannon on crack.  
"Do you think that's a Heartless?" Shadow asked.  
"No, it's not them. It's Ghaleon...." Mia said.  
"So, he must've teamed up with them." Terry said.  
"Look out! It's gonna fire again." I said, hitting the dirt.  
The others hit the ground just as the gun went off.  
  
A huge blast of power and magic shoot forth and struck Vane.  
The whole island shook and shuddered.  
Then it began to crash to the ground with violent force.  
It was a mess.  
  
"Ow," I said, clutching my leg, "Hello? Anyone survive?"  
I saw movement over by some rubbled and got over there as fast as I could.  
I threw the broken building and concrete off and sighed a bit of releif.  
"You guys okay?" I asked.  
"Yeah, thank God Mia put up that protective barrier when she did." Terry said, dusting  
himself off.  
"Yeah, guess I was off to one side." I said.  
"Well, I guess Vane's grounded now." Emi said.  
"Yes," Mia said sadly, "it will no longer fly."  
"Well, look at it this way. At least now, maybe the people will be a little humbled." I said.  
"Perhaps, but we've got bigger fish to fry now." Terry said, pointing in the direction  
of Ghaleon.  
"Well, you've got a point, we must face him." I said.  
"Emi, I don't want you getting hurt. Stay here and try and find survivors." Terry asked her.  
"Okay, just don't die on me, 'kay?" she said, giving him a kiss and running off.  
"Well, you guys ready?" I asked.  
"Yeah, let's do this."  
  
------------------------------  
North of Vane  
  
We made our way through the battlefield.  
"Hmm, it seems that gun backfired after that last shot." Terry said, commenting on  
how the ground was scorched and there was no sign of Heartless.  
"Do you think Ghaleon survived?" I asked.  
"Maybe, but perhaps we were lucky enough that he was wiped out in his attack." Charmy  
said.  
"Trust me, Charmster, we're never that lucky."  
As if on cue, the rubble around the cannon's remains began to shake and move.  
"Oh, Shit, that can't be good." I said.  
  
What appeared to be Ghaleon stood up out of the rubble.  
"So, you fools have come. Then you will soon die." Ghaleon said, glowing dark purple.  
"Okay, this doesn't look good guys." I said, "It seems the Heartless are giving him power."  
"Well, what do we do?" Sonic asked.  
"You wait there and die." Ghaleon said, shooting out a blinding purple light.  
  
As soon as the light subsided, Ghaleon was in front of us, ready for battle.  
"Okay, I say we just go for it." I said, grabbing my Keysaber.  
"Well, there's no other choice." Terry said, readying his lightsaber.  
"We're ready to Rock and Roll." Sonic and Shadow said.  
"We won't give up." Charmy said.  
"I must fight, for there is no other choice left." Mia said.  
"Then, prepare.....to DIE!" Ghaleon said, shooting out a purple light attack.  
I blocked it as well did Terry.  
The others dodged and Mia put up a defensive shield spell.  
"Ha, that won't last for long. You'll soon all die, and then learn the true power of  
the Heartless." Ghaleon said, unsheating a large sword.  
"Oh, boy, that can't be good." I said, readying my stance.  
  
Ghaleon dashed at me and took a swing with his sword.  
'Damn,' I thought, 'he's quick.'  
"So, ready to give up?" Ghaleon said, putting more pressure on my sword.  
Man, he was pretty strong.  
"Never, I won't give up, so long as evil like you exists." I said, pushing back.  
Ghaleon stood there and laughed, "Ha, you won't survive this."  
Ghaleon put his arms up and started chanting some kind of weird spell.  
The sky darkened and lightining flashed.  
"Oh, Damn!"  
A huge bolt of electricity impacted all six of us.  
I tried to move, but it hurt.  
I looked around, the others were in bad shape, they couldn't fight.  
I was the only one left.  
"So, you survived that last attack, eh? Well, I'll finish you off myself." Ghaleon said, moving closer to me.  
"What to do?" I said, gathering all my strength.  
Things didn't look good.  
'There is one chance'  
"Who said that?" I said.  
'I did, your Dark/Yami self.'  
"You, but remember what happend last time?"  
'Just trust me, he's getting closer.'  
"I've got no choice." I said, "Ghaleon, prepare to die."  
I glowed and my appearance changed.  
I had a pair of shades on, and a black leather jacket. My Keysaber was now black and  
the beam was a silverish color.  
"Ah, it's good to be back." Dark Ryan said.  
  
"Hey, what's going on? Your different." Ghaleon said.  
"Your observance is astounding....now, how do you want to die?" Dark Ryan said.  
"Me, die? Your the one who will die." Ghaleon said, unleashing his attack again.  
"Sorry, that won't work." Dark Ryan said, absorbing the lighting attack.  
"But, how?" Ghaleon asked.  
"You just don't get it, do you? You can't beat me and now, you'll feel pain." Dark Ryan said, shooting the lighting back at Ghaleon.  
Ghaleon was hit by his own attack and recoiled in pain.  
"How? This is inconceivable!"  
"You underestimated me and you had too much faith in the Heartless's dark powers." Dark Ryan said.  
"You can't best me at sword-fighting, though." Ghaleon said, struggling to get his sword out.  
"*sigh* You just don't learn." Dark Ryan said, charging Ghaleon.  
Ghaleon attempted to block, but my saber went right through his sword.....and straight  
through him as well.  
"Ack! No....this was not how it was supposed to end." Ghaleon said, now with a keyshaped hole in his chest.  
"Sorry, but you had to be stopped." Dark Ryan said, sheathing his Keysaber.  
"Okay, take back over Ryan."  
I changed back to my normal self.  
"Good job, Dark." I said, rushing to check on the others.  
"Are you guys okay?" I said, helping them to their feet.  
"Yeah, been better but I'll survive. What happend to Ghaleon?" Terry asked.  
"Well, he almost got me, but I let my Dark self take over...."  
"What?!" They all said.  
"....and he stopped Ghaleon."  
"Oh..." they then said.  
  
-------------------------------  
Vane  
  
"Well, Vane is no worse for the wear, but it'll take some time till things return to   
normal." Mia said.  
"Well, we stopped the Heartless and Ghaleon, but...." I said.  
"....where's the Keyhole?" Charmy said.  
"Yeah, well, maybe we'll find it on the way back......." Sonic said, suddenly noticing  
something.  
"What's wrong?" Shadow asked.  
"Look over there." Sonic said, running towards where the park used to be.  
The fountain there was cracked and had drained, revealing a familiar looking shape.  
"Hey, is that what I think it is?" Charmy asked.  
"Yep, that must be the Keyhole." I said, readying my Keysaber.  
The beam shot out, up, and then down into the Keyhole, sealing this world from the  
Heartless.  
"Hey, no gummi peice." Charmy said.  
"Oh, well, maybe the next world has it." I said, holstering my Keysaber.  
  
-------------------------------  
Desert outside Vane  
  
We walked back to our Gummi Ship and perpared to leave to the next world.  
"Well, it's been good seeing you guys again." Terry said, giving me a high five.  
"Yeah, that's another world save, who knows how many more to go." I said.  
"Don't worry, you'll be able to save the others and stop the Heartless." Mia said.  
"Right." I said.  
"Here, take this Ryan." Mia said, handing me a charm.  
"Cool, thanks." I said, placing it on my Keysaber.  
The Keysaber changed and became Keysaber:'LunarSpecial'.  
"Sweet, I guess charms change its shape." I said, looking over my new Keysaber.  
"Well, we wish you luck," Emi said, "And take care of Ryan, Charmy."  
"I will, well, see you later." I said, climbing into the cockpit.  
We waved good-bye as our ship took off.  
  
------------------------------  
Space Between Dimensions  
  
"Well, where now?" Charmy asked.  
"Well, we should move onto the next one planet and see if a the other gummi peice is there." I said.  
"Okay, set the course." Sonic said.  
"Right, here we go....." I said, our ship blasting off into hyperspace..... 


	5. 7 Balls and Androids

DDR HEARTS: 7 Balls and Androids  
By  
Sega1cool  
  
  
Disclaimer: You know what should go here? (Dark Ryan: If not, I'll be force to take   
over and teach ya'll real good, got it?) Well, that's subtle....Ryan's POV  
  
  
  
--------------------------  
Space Between Dimensions  
  
  
"Okay....so no piece there, but this next world may have it?" Charmy asked.  
"Right.....where is the next planet?" Sonic asked, looking out a window.  
"There." I said, pointing out the windsheild.  
Earth: This world is similar to Earth Prime.....except for a certain spiky haired  
hero, named Goku.....he's saved this Earth many times, along with his friends. This   
Earth is also home to 7 magic 'Dragon Balls'.....that when brought together grant  
any person their wish or want.....  
"Well, sounds like an inviting place." Shadow said.  
We disembarked for this world......  
  
--------------------------  
Earth: Open Fields  
  
We hand no sooner landed then when we had been attacked by some new Heartless.  
"Great.....these ones are freaky looking..." Sonic said, slicing a green one.  
"No kidding." I said, cutting through a white, robotic looking one with my Keysaber.  
Charmy used Thundara to electrify a large group of them, their circuitry frying and  
then exploding into small pieces.  
After clearing this wave of Heartless, another large group came and surronded us....  
"This doesn't look good." I said, puttin up a defensive pose.  
Suddenly a voice was hear...."Ka-meh-ha-me-ha!" A large blast of energy took out a  
good chunk of the Heartless....  
"What was that?" Charmy asked, looking around for the source of this attack.  
Suddenly, another attack came....."Destructo Disc!" A large disk of powerful energy  
sliced through some more of the Heartless, reducing them to nothing.  
"Well, can't let them have all the fun...." I said, attacking more Heartless. The  
others joined in and the rest were gone in a heartbeat.......  
  
We stood there, looking for the source of our help.  
"Look up there." Charmy said, pointing up. In the sky was two people, just floating there.  
"Well that's new." I said, as they flew down to us.  
"Um, thanks for your help." I said, extending my hand to shake his.  
He shook mine, "No problem....My name's Goku."  
Goku was an interesting looking guy, he was a little taller than me and had spiky, blond-gold hair.  
"And my name's Krillin." said the other, shorter man.  
Krillin was about a little taller than Sonic and Shadow, and was bald.....he didn't  
seem as strong as Goku, but he was strong, that much I'm sure.  
"I take it you're the good guys." I said to Goku.  
"Yep," he said, nodding,"we saw you fighting those things and decided to help."  
"Well, we're glad you did." Charmy said.  
"First the Androids appear, and then these freaky shadow things...." Krillin said.  
"Androids? Don't know of them, but those black things are called the 'Heartless'." Shadow said.  
"Heartless? I don't like the sound of that....and from what I've seen, it looks like  
Cell has altered them to his use......" Goku said.  
We talked for awhile, Goku told us of how this kid from the future, Trunks I think is  
what he said, warned of some androids that would come and kill everyone.....they came  
but Goku and the others had been preparing.......then Cell came and absorbed the other androids.....he evolved and became what he called 'Perfect Cell'......and that leads us to now.  
  
"So, a tournament, huh?" I asked Krillin.  
"Yeah....all of us Z fighters....and you if you want....we've got to beat Cell."  
"Well, sounds fun to me, why not? One question, how do you fly?" Sonic asked.  
"Well," Goku said, "you need to focus your energy and then concentrate it into a ball."  
I tried as well as the others......I managed to get it, then Charmy, Sonic struggled  
but soon managed....Shadow took forever, but even he managed to do so.  
"Cool, I guess your Power Levels don't lie....now, just focus it and push up..." Goku  
said, lifting off the ground.  
"Um....okay." I said, concentrating.........slowly I felt myself defying gravity and  
flying....I opened my eyes and saw the others off the ground as well.  
"Whoa, this is hard to do...." I said, trying to move through the air, wobbling as I went.  
"Well, it takes time to learn how to properly control it, but you've got the basics."  
We headed off to Goku's house, where he offered to let us rest...we accepted and were thankful for a real bed and a warm meal for once......  
  
-------------------------  
Unknown Location  
  
"Well, it seems that the Heartless were drawn to that world by Ghaleon...." Tiesel said.  
"Did you come up with that all by yourself?" Cell said.  
"Argh....why you..."  
"Anyway.....now they are on my grounds......they won't know what to do once they come  
face to face with me......"  
"And the princesses of dance?" Mukuvai asked.  
"Things are proceeding well, we know have three.....plus these two..*shows Emi....and Mia?!*...which makes five of them......." Vile said.  
"Well, I'm off to prevent them from saving another world...." Cell said, disappearing to.......  
  
-------------------------  
Location of the Cell Games  
  
"So, this is where it's to be held?" I asked, as I, Charmy, Sonic, Shadow, Goku, his  
son Gohan, his friend Piccolo, and Krilin landed.  
"Yes.....in fact...here he comes now..." Piccolo said, motioning me to look up.  
"Well, well....it seems I've more contestants in my little tournament...oh, well, the  
more the merrier....just means I'll have more fun...." Cell said.  
I sensed some powers approaching and saw two more people land next to us......one   
looked pretty rough and had an expressed arrogance about him. The other one appeared   
to be that Trunks fellow Goku had told us about......  
  
Suddenly, some fool came up in an airship, as well as T.V. crews following......  
"Who the hell is that guy?" I asked Krillin.  
"That guy is Hercule, or as I like to call him Mr.Satan......" Krillin said.  
"He looks more like some fake wrestler than a fighter..." Charmy said.  
"That's funny...." Goku said, laughing.  
  
"Hey, oh, yeah...who's the man?" Hercule said, playing it for the camera.  
"Any comments before the games start, Hercule?" asked the reporter.  
"Yeah," Hercule pointed at Cell, "Cell, you better get ready, cause when I step into  
the ring, you'll be begging for mercy."  
"*rolls eyes* God, who is this moron? Can't he sense how powerful Cell is?" I said to  
Goku.  
"Well, not many people can sense power levels, so yeah, he is pretty stupid." Goku said.  
  
Hercule threw off his cloak and stepped into the ring.  
"This oughta be amusing." Shadow said, pulling a chair from a plothole and sitting in it.  
"Okay, are you ready? I'm gonna clean your clock Cell." Hercule shouted, waving his  
finger at Cell.  
"Then give me your best shot." Cell said nonchalantly.  
Hercule ran at him and kicked, punched and hit Cell a number of times.  
Cell, looking rather annoyed, hit Hercule with one well place punch and sent him flying off into the distance.  
"Oh, no, viewers, it seems that our champ has been beaten....it appears that the fate  
of the world rests on the shoulders of one of the strangers who have come to watch..."  
the reporter said, having the camera pan to show us.  
  
"Well, then....are you next, Goku?" Cell said.  
"Of course, why not?" Goku said, stepping into the ring.  
Then it happend, almost too fast for me to keep up with.  
Cell and Goku were going blow for blow, they were incredible....  
Goku nearly knocked Cell out of the arena.....but Cell flew up and landed back in the ring...  
"Did you really think it'd be that easy?" Cell said.  
"No, guess not, I wouldn't expect you to anyway....." Goku said.  
"You seem to be holding back....how about we do away with these silly boundaries?" Cell said, blowing up the ring.  
We barely got away before the blast hit.  
  
'Cell must be crazy.' I thought to myself.  
Cell and Goku were now floating in the air.....  
"You could've killed them." Goku said.  
"I know." Cell said with a smile.  
"That's it, then....I'm going to finish you...." Goku said, putting his hands together.  
"KA-ME-HA-ME-HA!" Goku said, powering up his beam.  
"What, he'll destroy the entire planet!" Cell said.  
At the last moment, Goku moved really fast, not even I could detect it, and appeared   
below Cell.  
"No!" Cell said, as Goku unleashed his Kamehameha wave attack.  
Cell's complete upper torso disentegrated from the blast and all that was left was his  
legs.......  
  
"He beat him!" Sonic shouted....prematurly though.  
Cell's legs fell down and landed on the ground.  
"Did he win?" Krillin asked........  
.....sadly, it didn't seem that way as Cell's legs floated up off the ground and he  
regenerated himself...  
"Ah!....How, how did he do that?" Charmy asked.  
"It's cause he's built from the DNA of all of us...."Piccolo said, "He can regenerate  
because he has my DNA......"  
"Man, that's gotta suck....how do you beat someone who can just regenerate himself?" Shadow asked.  
"Not sure, but we'll have to try......" Krillin said.  
  
"Nice try Goku, but I'm afraid you can't win........" Cell said.  
"Your right, I'm not strong enough to beat you.......I give up....." Goku said.  
"Huh? Did he just say he gives up?" I said in surprise.  
"What, that's it.....I'm just going to destroy the Earth, and you won't fight." Cell said.  
"Now, I said I give up, but I'm appointing a replacement......."  
"Who could he mean?" Vegeta asked......Wow, he finally spoke......  
"......and that's Gohan."  
"Huh? Me?" Gohan said in suprise.  
Goku flew over and stood next to his son....  
"Yes, son....you may not know it, but you're stronger than anyone of us....just beleive."  
"*nods head* Okay, Father......I'll do my best." Gohan said, flying over to face Cell.  
"I hope you know what you're doing, Goku." I said.  
  
"So, are you ready, Gohan?" Cell said.  
Gohan gathered his power and let out a wave of energy....."Yes...let's get this over  
with Cell...."  
Cell charged Gohan, who ducked his punch and kicked Cell into the air....Gohan tried  
to follow up with another series of punches, but Cell got the jump on him and kicked  
Gohan into the side of an adjoining mountain....  
"Pity, I'd hope that Goku wasn't lying, but it seems he was just crazy from the fact  
that I've won...." Cell said.  
Just then, a hug blast of energy shot forth from the pile of rubble that was the mountain and Gohan appeared from it.  
He walked over to Cell and began talking...  
"Look, I don't want to hurt you....if you push me too far, something happens to me...  
....it first happend when we fought the Sayians(A/N: Sorry if its not spelled right, I'm just an uninformed white guy....), it later surfaced when we faced Freiza on Namek.....it's as if I loose myself, become someone I'm not......So, please, don't push me, or you'll be sorry."  
Cell looked at Gohan and laughed......"Now I don't know if you were trying to scare me  
with that....but you've done quite the opposite....I want to see these powers of yours......and I'll do all I can to force you to use them....."  
Cell started to beat the crap out of Gohan, then something suprising happend....Someone came up from behind and grabbed ahold of Cell.  
"Huh? Android 16?" Cell said, struggling to get free.  
  
"Who the hell?" I said, a bit in shock.  
"Android 16, he was able to sneak up since Cell can't detect his power level." Krilling said.  
"What's he going to do?" Charmy asked.  
"Well," Trunks said, "Let's wait and see."  
  
"Gohan, get back, I'm going to self-destruct and take Cell with me." #16 said.  
"No, what.......stop!" Cell said, still trying to get free.  
#16 began to flash, charging up his self-destruct sequence......but then he abruptly  
stopped.  
"What? Nothing happend...." #16 said.  
"You can't self-destruct because your bomb was taken out." Krilling shouted.  
  
"What?" Goku asked.  
"When Bulma was repairing him.....they took the bomb out because they were afraid #16   
may still have used it on you." Krilling said.  
"Oh, no, that can't be good." I said.  
  
Cell smiled..."You have a death wish, then let me help you." Cell blasted #16, who   
shattered to pieces, all that was left was his head.  
"No, #16!" Gohan said, getting angry.  
"Yes, Gohan.....Let that anger out!" Cell said.  
Just then #16's head began to.....talk?  
"Gohan......I know how you feel....you must let your peaceful nature go, some people  
can not simply listen to such........just let it go......." #16 said.  
"You just refuse to die, then let me help you." Cell said, smashing his foot down and  
finishing off #16.  
#16's head shattered and his main CPU flickered and then shut off permanently.  
"No....16......" Gohan said....He couldn't take it anymore and he tapped into his  
powers, a bright glow enveloping him.  
"Ah, yes....Now I get to see you're true abilities." Cell said.  
  
"I can't beleive he did that.......for an android, he was more human than most people  
I know." I said.  
"Yeah.....it's too bad, though....he really didn't deserve it.....he loved his life." Goku said.  
"Well, it would seem to me that whatever 16 said to Gohan, it was the right thing." Charmy said.  
"Cell won't know what hit him." Piccolo said.  
  
Cell let Gohan make the first move.....big mistake.  
Before Cell could even react, Gohan had dealt a hard blow to his gut.  
Cell looked like he was going to throw up.  
In fact that's what happend....he threw up....a girl.  
"18!" Krilling shouted.  
"Whoa, what's happening to Cell?" I asked.  
Cell had changed out of his previous form and looked different, not as tough, and he  
was noticibly weaker.  
"Without 18 to power him, he's no match for Gohan now." Goku said.  
  
Cell seemed desperate, he attempted to match Gohans moves but he was too slow and  
underpowered.  
"Fine, If I can't win, then no one does." Cell said, getting big and swelling with energy.  
"Careful, Gohan....one wrong hit and I go pop, then no more Earth." Cell said while laughing.  
  
"Oh,no...Gohan's in major trouble...." Krilling said.  
"Gohan..." Piccolo said.  
I watched as Goku put two finger to his head and, I guess, teleported over to Cell and  
Gohan.  
"Dad!" Gohan said.  
"I'm proud of you, son....take care of your mother for me......" Goku said, placing one hand on Cell.  
"What....what are you doing?" Cell said.  
"Goodbye, friends." Goku said, waving to us and then teleporting himself and Cell away.  
  
"Um, what just happend?" I asked, stunned.  
"He used instant transmission and went to who knows where with Cell.....he sacrificed  
himself for Earth." Krillin said.  
"Well....perhaps we should check on Gohan." I said.  
They agreed and we flew over towards Gohan.  
  
"No, dad...it's all my fault...I should've finished him when I could've...." Gohan said.  
"Gohan, your father did what he deemed best......and you did as well as you could." Piccolo said, reassuring him.  
"Thanks Piccolo."  
"So, what now?" I asked.  
"Well....huh?" Trunks started to say when the air around us became electrified.  
"What's going on?" I said, sensing an energy.  
"Oh, no....." was all I could say as Trunks hit the dirt.....  
"Trunks! No....my son....." Vegeta said.  
Trunks was barely conscious as the dust settled and showed.....Cell in his perfect form?  
"No, it can't be....." Krillin said.  
"Oh, but it is........it seems that even after I exploded, one cell of me remained....  
...and I somehow regenerated from that one cell.....I had also found to my great joy,  
that I'd learned the 'Instant Transmission'" Cell said.  
"No, dammit....Goku died for nothing." Charmy said.  
"Well, I was looking for another target.......and I think you're it." Cell said, hitting Charmy with another blast.  
  
Charmy hit the dirt hard.....I ran to her side.  
"NOOOO! Charmy....don't die on me......" I said, holding her close.  
"R...R..Ryan.....I...I..Love You!" Charmy said, before dying in my arms.  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I shouted, my anger flaring.  
"Hahaha! It brings me such joy to see such pain."  
That was it I'd had enough.....never piss me off.....Cell would learn that the hard way........  
  
I changed my appearance slightly.....not to Dark, but to a combination of both me and  
Dark......I threw back my arms and my eyes turned silver, my hair a bronzish-gold, and giving off a silver-gold glow.......I walked towards Cell....  
"Whoa...that was new." Shadow said.  
"He looks like a super sayian, but somehow he's like an altered form than anything I've seen." Gohan said.  
"Oh, it seems I've hit a nerve...." Cell said, as I started walking towards him.  
Cell took aim and tried to hit me, I knocked it away with my Keysaber.  
"You....it's you.....the boy....."Cell said.  
"What does that mean?" I asked, my voice a combination of both mine and Dark's.  
"You're the one with the key...." Cell said.  
"So.......all I know is you've got more important things to deal with right now....."  
  
"Um, guys, I think we should make some distance......Ryan may do something hasty." Sonic said, picking up Charmy's corpse.  
"Right, I'll get 18." Krillin said.  
"If I didn't know better, I'd say he's got a crush on her." Shadow said to Sonic.  
Vegeta picked up his son and the others followed Sonic to a safe distance.  
  
"Good, now they won't get hurt........" I said, turning my attention back to Cell.  
"You're the one who should worry....." Cell said, firing more shots at me.  
I knocked them away.......and aimed the Keysaber at him.  
"Are you afraid Cell?" I asked....."You should be....."  
I aimed at Cell and shouted..."Stopra!"  
Cell froze in his tracks.  
"What is this?" Cell asked.  
"Some skills from my Keysaber....and guess what...now you...get...to...die!" I said,  
puposely accentuating the last word.  
"You took someone special from me......I'll never forgive you for that." I said, starting to glow brighter and brighter.  
I turned and looked at my friends in the distance.....and waved goodbye.  
"So long, my friends.....be strong and continue the fight......" I said, as the glow was now steady.  
"Time to join the others in the next dimension Cell....." I stood next to him, threw my arms back, and shouted...."FINAL RUSH!"  
Time stood still and then....a huge blast of energy came outward from me and engulfed  
both me and Cell, destroying both of us......and so, the evil known as Cell was gone.  
  
"No, Ryan!" Sonic shouted as I took Cell with me.  
"First Charmy, now Ryan......how can we conitinue without our friends....." Shadow said.  
"Um, perhaps we can help...if you'll follow us, and bring her...." Krilling said.  
"Um okay....." Sonic said, picking Charmy's body back up and following them.  
  
------------------------  
The Lookout  
  
"So, what's the help you spoke of?" Sonic asked, laying down Charmy's body.  
"Watch...." Krillin said, pointing to a circle of 7 balls....  
"Wait those are....the Dragon Balls......" Shadow said.  
The balls glowed as the Eternal Dragon flew forth and appeared.  
"What is your wish? Name it and it shall be granted....." The Dragon said.  
"I definitely know the first one....." Gohan said...."We wish that all those killed by  
Cell would be brought back to life."  
The Dragon's eyes glowed and then he spoke...."Your wish has been granted."  
Trunks began to stir and opened his eyes.."I'm alive?"  
Sonic looked at Charmy, who had also begun to move...."Ah! Wait, I'm not dead....I'm alive...where's Ryan?"  
"You have one wish left.....Please use it so I can move on...." The Dragon said.  
"Oh, right....well, do you guys have a wish?" Gohan asked Sonic, Shadow, and Charmy.  
The three looked at each other and smiled...."Yes," Sonic said, "We wish that Ryan would be transported here."  
The Dragon's eyes glowed again as he processed the wish.  
"Your wishs have been granted....my job is now done....Fare thee well!" The Dragon said, going back into the 7 balls...the 7 balls shot up into the air and scattered back across the Earth.  
"Huh? Hey, where Ryan?" Charmy asked.  
I walked out from behind a pillar and tackled her.  
"I'm right here, babe." I said, giving her a kiss.  
"Ryan!" Sonic and Shadow said, making a group hug with me and Charmy.  
  
"Hey, what's that strange shape?" Gohan said, pointing to a Keyhole in the sky where  
the Dragon Balls had once been......  
"You know what to do Ryan..." Charmy said.  
"Of course.." I said, pulling out my Keysaber.  
I pointed it towards the sky and a beam shot out of it towards the Keyhole.  
We heard the clicking lock and something fell out of it.  
"I'll get it." Sonic said, flying up to catch it.  
"What is it?" I asked.  
"The second half to the gummi......" Sonic said with a smile.  
"All right....you know what that means...." I said, happy to be back.  
  
------------------------  
Open Field  
  
The Z fighters had come to see us, as well as Trunks, off.  
"Well, it was an honor to fight with you guys." I said, shaking hands with them.  
"Ditto." Gohan said, "And keep fighting, we will."  
He handed me a charm in the shape of the Dragon Balls.  
"Here, for good luck, and to remember us....."  
I took it and placed in on my Keysaber, which became Keysaber:'Eternal Wish'  
"Thanks, and don't worry, we will keep fighting."  
I turned to Trunks.."Good luck on your quest man.....teach those androids a lesson."  
"Thanks, maybe one day my future can be restored..." Trunks said.  
"Just don't give up, always remember that no matter how dark it gets, the light is  
never too far away." I said, as we climbed into our respective ships.  
Trunks took off and disappeared from sight.  
"Bye everyone!" Charmy said, waving.  
They waved goodbye as we lifted off and headed towards Traverse Town....  
  
------------------------  
Traverse Town: Docks  
  
We disembarked and headed for Cid's shop.  
"Hey, you guys are back...I take it you found the second half?" Cid asked.  
"Yep," I said handing him both pieces, "here they are."  
"Okay, give me a little while...Won't take long." Cid said, walking out.  
After about twenty minutes, Cid came back.  
"Okay, guys....I also gave you a new warp gummi so you can travel between worlds you've already been to quicker." Cid said.  
"Thanks, Cid. We owe you a lot." I said.  
"It's nothing man, no problem....just stop the Heartless."  
We said our goodbyes and headed back to the ship.  
"Okay, buckle up and hang on, next stop, a brand new world........." I said, activating the newly upgraded warp drive, sending us towards our next adventure............. 


	6. A Digger's Life Is The Pits

DDR HEARTS: A Digger's Life Is The Pits.....  
By  
Sega1cool  
  
  
Disclaimer: Anything other than me and the stories, I don't own.......(Dark: So no suing us......wouldn't get much money anyway.......) Ryan's POV......  
  
  
  
  
----------------------  
Space Between Dimensions  
  
"Well, almost there......this new warp gummi Cid gave us is great." I said.  
"*yawn*.....That was quick, it was only what thirty minutes?" Charmy asked, waking up.  
"So, where is here anyway?" Shadow said, pushing a sleeping Sonic off of him.  
Terra: This world is almost completely covered in water....the people are forced to eke out a living on the small patches of land left available......The source of energy for this world are gems called Quantum Refractors......These refractors are sought out and collected by Diggers, explorers who brave ancient ruins to ensure the survival of civilization.......  
"That answer you're question?" I said to Shadow.  
"Yeah....."  
We then set the ship into reentry and found a good landing spot....  
  
-----------------------  
Clozer Woods  
  
We landed the ship and disembarked.  
"Hmm...seems like a nice place." I said, walking around.  
"Reminds me of home....." Sonic said.  
We walked along till we came across a city.  
"Well, at least we found a city.....maybe we can find some info about this island." Charmy said.  
As we walked by, we were stopped by what appeared to be the city's police department.  
"Halt, who are you?" The one officer said.  
"Well, I'm Ryan...."  
"My name's Charmy..."  
"I'm Sonic....."  
"And My name's Shadow."  
"Okay....were you the ones who landed out in the woods?"  
"Um, yeah, that'd be our ship." I said.  
"Phew, you had us worried....." said another man, who appeared to be the police cheif,  
"We thought youse was more pirates...we've had some trouble with them already...."  
"Well, if there's anything we can do to help, just ask...." I said.  
"Thank you....and welcome to Kattelox Island." He said, "If you'll excuse us, we've got stuff to take care of."  
  
"Well, that was interesting, but looks like troubles already happening....." I said.  
"I wonder if the pirates have joined up with the Heartless..." Charmy said.  
Just then we noticed someone spying on us.  
"Hey you, what do you think you're doing?" Sonic asked.  
"EEP!" the person said, trying to run away.  
"Don't think so..." I said, pulling her back over with my force powers.  
I brought her over and we looked at her.  
"Please, don't hurt me.....I was just curious...." she said.  
She was wearing red shorts and a matching red shirt......with blonde hair and a red hat on as well..........  
"Who are you?" I asked.  
"My name...my name is Roll." she said, standing up, "And when I heard you offer your help, I thought I might ask......"  
"So, what's wrong?" Charmy asked.  
"Well, my Digger partner went into those ruins.....*points to a structure*......and he  
hasn't been back yet.....I'm worried." Roll said.  
"Well, don't worry..." I said reassuring her, "We'll go find him."  
"Thank you....." she said.  
We walked over to the structure and walked down the ladder to the ruins themselves.  
  
------------------------  
Ancient Ruins  
  
"Wow, this place is amazing." Charmy said.  
"Yes, it is intriguing...." I said, walking through the next door.  
Just then we were attacked by what appeared to be machines.  
"Huh? These aren't Heartless...." I said, drawing my Keysaber and taking them down.  
Of course, as if on cue, Heartless infused machines appeared.  
"Well, you just had to open your mouth." Shadow said, slicing through a number of them.  
Charmy used Stopra to freeze them and we let them have it. As they unfroze they twitched and spasmed as our built up attacks hit them hard.  
"H...Help....."  
"Huh? Listen, I heard someone.........*I looked around* This way!" I said, running through a second set of doors.  
  
Inside was a huge whatever those machines were, and it was being controlled by a nasty  
looking Heartless.  
We noticed it had cornered someone and was about to finish it off.  
"I don't think so." I said, throwing my Keysaber at it.  
The machine roared as my Keysaber ripped through it and came back to me.  
"Huh?" the guy said.  
"Charmy, go see if he's okay....Sonic, Shad....let's finish this." I said.  
Charmy nodded and went to check on him.  
Sonic and Shadow used a combined Chaos Control to rip through him and mess him up.  
"All right, be wanting to test this move out......Ragnarok!" I shouted, jumping up and   
giving him a huge combo of Keysaber slashes....then I pulled back and charged the Keysaber, releasing a huge blast of energy.  
The machine roared as it exploded into pieces leaving behind gems and some cubes.  
"Vacuum arm!" The guy said, his arm adapting a new weapon......he then sucked up all  
the gems and cubes.  
He walked over to us...."Hey, thanks for the help. Who are you guys?" he asked.  
"Well....." We told him our names and that Roll had asked us for our help.  
"Thanks a lot guys, I'd have been toast if you hadn't shown up when you did....by the way, my name's Megaman, Megaman Trigger." Megaman said.  
"Cool name....now, let's head back towards the surface...." Sonic said.  
"Not yet, one last thing to do." Megaman said, motioning for us to follow.  
We entered a chamber and saw a huge refractor just hovering there.  
"Wow, that's a big one......" Charmy said.  
"Yeah, this'll come in handy." Megaman said, grabbing it, "Right, now we can go."  
We headed back through the dungeon towards the surface.  
  
----------------------------  
City's Limits  
  
"Oh, I hope they're allright....." Roll said, pacing around.  
We then emerged from the structure.  
"Oh, Megaman!" Roll said, running to him and hugging him, "I'm so glad you're okay."  
"Nice to see you too, Roll. Thanks these guys, if it wasn't for them, I'd be gone."  
"*turns to us* Thank you....I knew you would be of great help."  
"Hey, we're heroes...that's what we do." I said.  
"Yes, well, look at what we got down there." Megaman said, showing Roll the huge refractor.  
"Wow, we can fix the flutter with this." Roll said, "Come on let's go....."  
We headed towards their crashed ship in the Clozer Woods.  
  
---------------------------  
Clozer Woods  
  
"That's your ship?" I said, "What happend to it?"  
"Well, when we first got here, we had to crashland......we're just lucky that we made  
it to the island." Megaman said, helping Roll into the ship.  
"Wait here, while we fix it up." Roll said, disappearing into ship.  
I waited with the others.....starting to get impatient though.  
"Hmm, I wonder if its working or not?" I said.  
"Well.....Hmm, listen, what's that?" Charmy said.  
The ship began to hum.....and then it lifted off the ground.  
Megaman and Roll walked out and rejoined us.  
"I take it it worked." I said.  
"Yep, like a charm." Megaman said.  
"Now we can get into the ruins that were blocked off." Roll said, "Just tell me when  
you want to go."  
"*nods* Right." Megaman said.  
  
"Well," Megaman said as we headed to the town's item shop, "After I stock up, I was wondering if you wanted to join me in the ruins....you could be of help."  
"Give us a minute...." I said, as we walked over and huddled.  
We huddled over in the corner.  
"So, what do you guys think?" I asked my friends.  
"Hmmm, he seems on the level...besides, it seems every one we meet has led us to the  
boss and the keyhole........" Shadow said.  
"He's not the sort to do anything bad......at least he appears to not be." Charmy said.  
"Okay, then....we'll help him." Sonic said.  
"All right then, Megaman....we'll go with you." I said.  
"Cool....thanks....here." Megaman said, handing something to Charmy, "You can use this to upgrade that blaster of yours."  
"Thanks Megaman." Charmy said, taking it, "Um, how do I use it?"  
"We can have Roll set you up when we get to the Flutter." Megaman said as we headed back to the Flutter.  
  
---------------------------  
Inside the Flutter  
  
  
"Okay, Roll. We're ready to head to the ruins." Megaman said.  
"All right then....." Roll said.  
"Um..." Charmy said, nudging Megaman.  
"Oh, right....can you upgrade Charmy's blaster?" Megaman said, handing the Barrel Kit and Charmy's blaster to her.  
"Of course, it'll only be a minute....." Roll said, going into her workshop.  
Several minutes later and after a lot of mechanical noise, Roll returned.  
"Well, its done." Roll said, pulling out Charmy's modified blaster.  
"Whoa!" Charmy said, taking it.  
It was now a bit bigger, and it now fired strong beam shots.  
"It's also got a secondary mode. Flip that switch and it'll fire EMP waves to scramble enemy Reaverbots." Roll said.  
"Cool, thanks." Charmy said, holstering it.  
Roll headed to the bridge and took off for the ruins.  
  
----------------------------  
Ancient Ruins II  
  
We stepped out of the Flutter and into the elevator leading to the ruins depths.  
"Okay, Roll....how's the scan of reaverbot activity?" Megaman said through his comlink.  
"Doesn't seem to be any big ones......but the power is out everywhere but the one room you're in....see if you can turn it back on." Roll said.  
"Roger, let's go guys." Megaman said.  
We travled along till we found another room, we entered what looked like the control room.  
"Hmmm....." Megaman said, walking to the panel on one machine.  
"What's it say?" I asked.  
"It says activation either requires direct order from Mother...or the use of 3 Proto-type Anthro unit ID cards." Megaman answered.  
"Well, we need three ID cards, maybe we'll find them." I said, as we walked out.  
We walked through the next door and were attacked by three green, nasty looking Reaverbots.  
"Ahhh!" Charmy shouted in surprise, "Time to test this sucker out."  
Charmy pulled her new blaster out and fired.  
A huge blast came out and tore right through the Reaverbot.  
"Whoa! Roll outdid herself this time." Megaman said, finishing off another one.  
I went and sliced through the third one and we collected the refractors they dropped.  
A chest appeared and we went over and opened it....inside was the first ID card.  
"All right...we found one." Charmy said.  
We walked into the next room and inside was a huge tower.  
"Whoa, that's big.....wonder what's inside?" Sonic said, walking without looking.  
He then fell over and edge.  
  
"Moron..." I said, jumping down to see if he was okay.  
"Ouch.....watch that first step." Sonic said, trying to get some humor out of it.  
The others joined us and we entered a room.....in the far corner was a big purple machine.  
"Hey," Roll said over the comlink," That looks like the generator."  
"Hmmmm.....so, do we turn it on or not?" Megaman said.  
"Why not, what have we got to lose?" I said.  
"Right." Megaman said, pushing the button, thus turning it on.  
I turned around and spotted something.  
"Hey, look...another chest." I said, walking to it and opening it.  
Inside was the second ID card.  
"That's two....just one more to go." Megaman said.  
  
We walked back into the central room and entered the only other room left.  
"Eek!" Charmy said, jumping into my arms.  
"Hey, not now." I said, getting slapped by her, "Ow, that hurt."  
"That must've scared her." Megaman said, pointing to two Reaverbots hanging from the ceiling.  
Megaman used his Power Cannon to annihilate one of them and Sonic and Shadow sliced and diced the other.  
"There's no other door?" Shadow said.  
"Megaman.....it looks like there's a false ceiling tile.....see if you can shot it down." Roll said over the comlink.  
"Well, you heard her, start shooting, firing, or whatever....find that false tile." Megaman said, releasing a barrage from his Power Cannon.  
I stabbed the roof with my Keysaber, and Charmy let loose with her blaster.  
Eventually, one of the sections crumbled and fell down.  
"All right, up we go..." Megaman said, jumping up the newly made hole.  
We stepped onto an elevator and as it went down, Roll started to talk.  
"You ever wonder where the ruins came from? And the revearbots? I know we've gone on Digs for a long time....but is it right? It almosts feels like stealing.......Wait, I just picked up three huge Reaverbots on radar....they came out of nowhere....Look Out!"  
We stepped out and three horse-like Reaverbots stood up and started to run around us.  
"This looks like fun...." I said, charging one of them.  
"You do this for a living, must suck." Shadow said, slicing one of the others.  
"You'd think...but its fun..." Megaman said, unloading his Buster Gun into the third.  
"This is taking too long.....time to finish them...." I said, readying my Keysaber...  
"Light Flash!" I shouted, dashing along the ground and slicing straight through all three of the Reaverbots.  
They shortcircuited and exploded in a large blaze, leaving behind tons of zenny.  
Megaman just stared at me..."Wow, that was amazing." He said to me.  
"That was nothing...." I said, holstering the Keysaber.  
  
We entered the only room left and got the final ID card from the chest in there.  
We jumped down to the lower level and headed towards the exit.  
  
------------------------  
Unknown Location  
  
"All right, Teisel. You'd better not screw up like the others." Vile said.  
"Those guys were fools, our advanced electronics will stop them." Teisel said, leaving.  
"*sigh* Why must we be forced to work with fools?" General Mokuvai said.  
"Because they're easier to control." Vile said.  
  
-------------------------  
Ancient Ruins II  
  
We headed back to the Control Room.  
"Okay, time to open the main gate...." Megaman said, placing the three ID cards inside.  
We heard a rather large noise as in another part of the city, the Main Gate opened its  
large heavy doors.  
"Okay, we're done, let's head to the Flutter." Megaman said.  
We got on the main elevator and headed back to the surface.  
  
-------------------------  
Flutter  
  
"Okay, guys...hold on, we're moving out." Roll said, hitting the main thrusters.  
As we went along above Kattleox.........  
A huge green ship appeared behind us.  
"Oh, no, it's the Bonnes." Megaman said.  
  
"Ahahahahahaahah! Now that they've opened the Main Gate, we don't need them anymore." Tesiel Bonne said.  
Will Ms. Tron please report to the bridge ( ----Announcement)  
"Ready? Fire!" Teisel shouted.  
  
The Flutter shook from the cannon's shots.  
"Ah, we won't last long here...I'm going to try and hide in the clouds." Roll said, turning the Flutter into the cloud line.  
"Hahahaha, they think they can hide...we'll show them." Teisel said.  
The Bonnes ship, the Ghestleshaft, moves slowly and follows the Flutter.  
"Ack, they caught up....okay, we'll just have to outrun them." Roll said, putting the thrusters to the max.  
"Hmmm, that ships faster than it looks....hey, where'd they go?" Tesiel said, looking around.  
"They couldn't have...they must've found our weak spot." Tesiel said.  
On the Flutter we were underneath them.  
We joined Megaman on the top Deck.  
"Okay, time to pay them back...in spades." I said, launching a devastating Firaga spell from my Keysaber.  
It impacted the hull and set it ablaze.  
"Oh, yeah...."  
Megaman took aim and fired away with his Power Cannon....three shots later the right wing was ablaze.  
"Oh, no...fire's in sectors 12-23..I'm closing them off." Tron Bonne said.  
"Time to test the 2nd mode." Charmy said, flipping the switch.  
The gun twisted around and a second barrel appeared.  
"Fire!" Charmy said, unleashing a concentrated ball of EMP.  
The ball of EMP hit the left wing and it short-circuited in a blaze of sparks and fire.  
"Yes!"  
"Huh? It's still flying? There must be something left....wait that symbol on the front...fire at it!" Roll said.  
We unloaded our firepower on the symbol as it started hitting us with cannonballs.  
"Ouch!" I said, getting knocked back.  
Megaman let loosed a barrage of shots and the ship started to explode.  
  
"This is inconceivable....how can they beat me?" Tesiel said.  
"Roll, get away or will be caught in the explosion." Megaman said.  
"Right!" Roll said, turning the ship around.  
The Ghestleshaft falls down slightly and then is engulfed in smoke and flames.  
From the ashes comes a ship that has Tron's hair style and is a red, winged mech.  
From inside the Tron mech....  
"Argh....hahahahahaha, did you really think that would beat us?" Tesiel said, grabbing his arm, "But they still got my arm!"  
"Don't worry Tesiel, I'll get them! No more fooling around! I'll kill you!" Tron said, circling the Flutter.  
  
"Oh, damn!" I said, "Well, let's get to it then."  
Megaman tried to hit it with his Power Cannon, but it was too slow....the same was true of Charmy's Blaster.  
"Fine then......" I said, powering up.  
Megaman looked at me, "Whoa....what's he doing?"  
"You'll see...." Sonic, as he and Shadow also powered up.  
"Ready?" I said, looking at them.  
"Yes....let's do this Shadow." Sonic said as he and Shadow flew off the ground.  
They concentrated their power and..."Chaos Control!" they shouted, ripping through it.  
"Ah...what kinda firepower are they packing on that little ship?" Tesiel said.  
"My turn." I said, lifting off the ground.  
"Final Judgement!" I said, diving into the Flutter, collecting the energy of everyone and focusing it on the Tron mech.  
The Tron mech starts smoking and crashing off.....  
"I'm sorry Tesiel....I failed." Tron said.  
"Don't worry your pretty little head over it, Tron.....We tried our best, but sometimes are best isn't enough......" Tesiel said.  
"Ba-Buu!" Bon Bonne said.  
The Tron mech spun around, heading towards Terra and then Boom!  
All that was left was a smoke cloud and some debris flying off.  
"Oh....." I said, powering down.  
"Perhaps we should've gone easier on them....." Roll said, joining us.  
"Yeah....Maybe...." Megaman said, disarming his weapons.  
  
----------------------------  
Clozer Woods  
  
"Well, we beat the boss, but where's the Keyhole?" Shadow asked.  
"Well, I kinda think they didn't really deserve to die like that...." Charmy said.  
"Yeah, they did seem kinda goofy, not evil......." I said.  
Megaman had been overhearing us.  
"Well, I think you're right....I didn't like taking their lives....I didn't want it to end up like that." Megaman said, walking over to us.  
"How much did you hear?" Sonic asked.  
"All of it....so, you are the Keymaster....." Megaman said to me.  
"How do you know of that?" I asked.  
"Tesiel was talking about that earlier and said the Keysaber was important.....I think I know where we can find that Keyhole of yours....." Megaman said, motioning for us to follow him.  
We followed.  
  
---------------------------  
Main Gate  
  
"I beleive that your Keyhole is down here. Let's go!" Megaman said.  
We followed him down.  
"It's a big spiral....and it goes a long way down." Roll said, over Megaman's comlink.  
We kept going down.....and encountered no resistance.  
"Do you find it odd that there's no Reaverbots here?" I asked Megaman.  
"Yeah, I would've thought that there'd be a lot of resistance." Megaman replied.  
As we went further and further down, it got brighter and brighter.  
"Whoa....it's.....down...Huh?......I'm....lose...you.......*dead static*" Roll said over the comlink.  
"Damn, its dead....." Megaman said as we reached the bottom.  
We entered the door and came upon a chamber.  
"Look, on that wall, a Keyhole." Charmy said.  
"Right." I said, placing my Keysaber as the beam shot out from it and into the Keyhole. It sealed and then the chamber rumbled.  
From inside the wall, some guy came out of it.....  
"Hmmm...it would appear I've woken up earlier than explected...no matter." said a weird looking purple haired man.  
He looked at Megaman..."Ah, so I suppose you awoke me to carry out the Carbon Reinitialization Process. Oh, I'm so sorry, my name is Megaman Juno."  
"Carbon Reinitialization Process?" Megaman said.  
"Wait, does he mean....reinitialize the humans?" I said.  
Juno walked back and trapped us in a force field.  
"No....w..wait...stop!" Megaman said, fighting the force field.  
  
In the corner out of sight, we're two familiar faces....  
"Tesiel, we've got to help him." Tron said.  
"Right...if he kills everyone....he seems crazy enough to do it." Tesiel said, walking up to the force field.  
"Hear's a problem....hey, how do you shut this thing off?" Tesiel asked.  
"Oh, this....Like this!" Tron said, kicking it which made it retract into the ground.  
We collapsed into a pile...but Megaman seemed unscathed.  
"Hey, you guys are alive." Megaman said, hugging Tron.  
"Oh, hey...well, hurry up go on...stop him and I'll never forgive you if you go dying on me." Tron said, "Be careful."  
"Right.." Megaman ran off.  
"Shouldn't we follow?" Charmy asked.  
"No...*pant*...this is his mission." I said, standing up wearily.  
We headed back to the surface.....  
  
-----------------------  
Kattleox City: Clozer Woods  
  
When we got back, some weird stuff went down.....I won't bore you with the details...but all I can say is that I have a feeling that if Megaman hadn't been down there....the whole town would've been gone, including us.  
  
"Do you really have to go?" the mayor, Amelia, said.  
"Yes...we need to get on with our search." I said.  
"And we've got to find more on the Mother Lode." Megaman said.  
I shook Megaman's hand and wished him luck.  
"Here, I found this down there, you take it." Megaman said, handing me a charm.  
I put it on my Keysaber and it became Keysaber: 'Core Strike'.  
"Well, thank you for all you've done...we appreciate it...and come back and visit whenever you wish." Amelia said.  
"Thanks, we'll remember that." I said, getting into the gummi ship.  
Megaman and his group got into their ship and took off just as we did.  
As we circled the island, everyone was waving to the Flutter and us.  
We waved back and took off.  
  
-----------------------------  
Space Between Dimension  
  
"Well another world saved...I'm just glad the Bonnes didn't die." I said, setting the new course....  
"Yeah, so....onto a new adventure then...." Charmy said, settling in for the ride.  
"Ya know, I wonder what happend to those Bonnes anyway....." Shadow said.  
  
-----------------------------  
An ocean on Terra  
  
A slow moving, lunky ship with the Bonnes skull symbol on it is shown.  
"Well, with that big refractor we found, we'll get back what we lost and then some...We'll live like kings!" Tesiel said.  
"*sighs* That's if we even make it there...I had to use all the spare parts just to build this boat.....*smiles* But at least he's happy." Tron said.  
The rear of the ship showed a crane holding a HUGE Refractor in place, and their "little" brother Bon Bonne being dragged along in a lifeperserver.  
Bon says one thing as they slowly sail into the sunset as it echoes...."Ba Buu......" 


	7. Backstory: Reploid Alert!

DDR HEARTS: Backstory: Reploid Alert!!!!  
By  
Sega1cool  
  
  
Disclaimer: Any ideas, characters, or properties used are copyright their respective companies........I own only this story and its concepts......(Dark: From Ryan's POV...)  
  
  
  
------------------------  
Space Between Dimensions  
  
  
"*yawn* Well, time to get some rest...." I said, putting the ship into stand-by mode for the night.  
"Right....." Charmy said, pushing a button, which converted the ship for our sleeping quarters.  
Charmy and I snuggled up in one bed and Sonic and Shadow each toke their own bed.  
We were soon fast asleep.......and I began to dream..........  
  
------------------------  
9 Months ago.......  
  
I awoke with a start and looked at the clock.  
"Noon already....." I said, getting dressed and heading downstairs.  
I ate lunch and headed towards my arcade room.  
As usual, I started playing 5th mix on Doubles Maniac.  
As I played, I looked at Charmy.....who was still wearing my Millenium Arrow.  
It was somewhat comforting to know that a part of me would always be with her....but it still hurt. I placed my hand over the screen and closed my eyes.........  
.....Three months had passed, not as fast as I would've liked....it just dragged on and on, and to make matters worse, something strange was happening to me...That presence from back in the cave had begun to show more of himself, he wasn't really wanting to take over, but he made his prescence known, he only called himself.......Dark.......I shook my head and finished playing.  
"Figures." I said, the roulette selecting 'Can't Stop Fallin' In Love (Speed Mix)'.  
I played with my usual passion, never giving in to pain.  
After the song ended and the results screen came up, my eyes began to tear up.....I missed her too much and that song never did help.  
I wiped my eyes dry and left....I couldn't let her see me like this.  
I cleaned up and then went back to sleep.  
  
That's pretty much how my days went for a long time. Sonic and Shadow would come over  
once and a while to try and cheer me up...but it never did help much.  
"Come on Ryan, snap out of it......" Sonic said.  
"Yeah, dude...cheer up. They're must be tons of other girls you can find....." Shadow said.  
"True.....but they wouldn't be the same as Charmy.......they want me because of what I am.....Charmy wanted me because of WHO I am....." I said.  
"Well, try and get out of this funk, okay?" Sonic said leaving with Shadow.  
"Don't worry...I'll try....." I said, getting out of my chair.  
I really did have good friends....they were the only ones left after I beat Konamison.  
I went to bed and tried to get some sleep.....  
  
-----------------------  
My House....3:42 A.M.  
  
I was awakened by a noise.  
"Oh, damn...." I whispered...this was all I needed, someone trying to rob me.  
I got up, grabbing my lightsaber, and sneaked out of my room.  
When I looked down over the upstairs railing, the front door had been blown off.  
"What the....?" I thought, trying to sense who was there.  
Then I noticed something by the stairwell......it seemed human, but....something was different.  
"Well......" I said, jumping the rail,"Take this!"  
I slashed at whoever this was and sliced off his arm....which came off and started to spark.  
"What the hell?" I said, flipping on the lights.  
The person seemed to be an anthro....but a robot as well.  
"Who are you?" I demanded.  
The robot grabbed his arm and addressed me...."Greetings....from the remanants of G.U.N........"  
"But I thought......" I started to say.  
"We are the last survivors of the G.U.N. Reps Project......we wish to avenge our creators and then carry out their plans......" he/it said.  
"Well, I won't go down that easy..." I said taking a stance.  
"Of course, " he said, reattaching his arm, "I would hope not."  
Sadly, this guy was out of his league, I sliced him to peices...yet his head was still talking.  
"Ha, it seems the reports on you are true.........." he/it said.  
"Enough!" I said, stabbing my saber into his/it's head..........................  
  
-----------------------  
My House....3 days later  
  
I was in the kitchen making lunch for the three of us.....Sonic and Shadow had come over and we were practicing for the next big tournament at the mall.  
I hadn't told them about the other night....I was hoping it was just a coincidence.  
Suddenly the TV show I was watching was interupted by a mysterious signal.....  
"Sonic, Shad, quick!" I said, running to the living room and flipping on my big screen TV.  
  
On the screen was a mysterious person...  
"Greetings citizens of Earth...we are the last survivors of G.U.N.......you many have known them as a Earth govt. agency...but their plans were much more devious.....we were created near the end of their existence...now we will carry out their plans....and destroy those that do not submit.....and to those foolish enough to attack, you will be destroyed for your futile attempts at destroying us......and to Ryan...don't sleep...we'll be meeting soon enough..."   
With that the screen disappeared and returned to normal Television.  
  
"Okay, that was odd...and why did he finger you?" Shadow said, looking at me.  
I told them of the incident the other night........  
"This sounds bad, their probably targeting you because he defeated Konamison...." Sonic said to me.  
I nodded.....and then noticed a odd noise.  
"What the hell?" I said, running outside.  
A huge dustcloud was heading down our street.  
"I sense this will not be well..." I said, drawing my saber.  
"Get ready guys!" I said to Sonic and Shadow.  
As the cloud came closer, it became clear that we were outmatched.....  
"We have to fight regardless...." I said, taking a stance.  
The cloud soon dissappated showing twelve reploids charging at us.  
"Charge!" I said, as the three of us charged the 12.  
I slahsed and took out one, but another came from behind and knocked me unconscious.  
Sonic dashed through two of them, but another stuck his foot out and Sonic tripped, crashing into a wall.  
Shadow used Chaos Control and warped through them, destroying four.....but then he saw that they had us and he surrendered, and was immediately knocked out.  
  
---------------------------  
Neo-Gun.....Prisoner Complex  
  
I woke up and my head was pounding.  
"Ow, where are we?" I said, looking at Shadow.  
"The prisoner complex of G.U.N.'s main base......this'll probably be the end." he said.  
Sonic was throwing up in the corner.  
"Ewww.....that's not pleasant." I said, standing up.  
I looked around, not much....there was a TV in the wall though.  
"Hmmm....." I said, looking at it.  
Suddenly it sprung to life.  
"Hahahahaha....it seems that the mighty Ryan is know nothing for than my captured prey....." Said the mysterious reploid.  
"You....I'm guessing you're the leader...." I said.  
"That'd be correct....my name is ?" ? said.  
"? What kind of name is ? ?" Sonic said from his corner.  
"I was never given a name...." He said.  
"Um, then for the sake of ease, can we refer to you as No. 1?" Shadow said.  
"*thinks* Okay, sounds alot better than ?....anyway, seems some morons are trying to save you..." No. 1 said.  
The TV showed a picture of the outside....there was a battle going on.  
"No...." I said in horror.  
Outside was Knuckles and Tails fighting against the reploids, not holding there own.  
"Bwahahahahahahaha! It appears your friends won't win.....too bad..." No.1 said.  
Suddenly the screen cut off......  
  
"Damn!" I shouted, it echoing down the halls.  
Sonic and Shadow looked at me, I looked at them......we knew we didn't have much of a chance.  
"Wait...." I said, looking for my saber......it wasn't on me.  
"Crap! My saber's missing...." I said, sitting down.  
"What does that matter?" Shadow asked.  
"I could've sliced the bars and we could've made our escape." I said, depressed.  
Suddenly, someone dressed in a hooded robe appeared outside our cell.  
"Here..." The person said, tossing me my saber.  
"Wha...?" I said, catching it.  
"And make use of these too....." the person said, tossing Sonic the......7 Emeralds!  
"How did you...?" Shadow asked.  
"Your friend Knuckles is to thank for that.......now, good luck...." the person said running off.  
I caught of flash of her under the hood and saw some blond hair.....  
"That person seems....familiar...." I said, slicing the bars down.  
"Ryan, perhaps you should use these as well..." Sonic said, placing the emeralds down in a circle.  
"If I can..." I said, concentrating like Sonic and Shadow.  
The emeralds began to spin around and float in the air.  
A dazzling light appeared and we were changed.  
Sonic became a dazzling gold and transformed into Super Sonic.  
Shadow became a stunning silver and transformed into Super Shadow.  
As for me, the feeling was incredible....my hair became a golden blonde as I was enveloped by a golden-silver aura.  
"Wow, this is.....incredible. Guess this makes me Super Ryan." I said with a laugh.  
Sonic and Shadow nodded.  
"Well, which way?" I asked.  
"Well, strangely the prison complex is smack dab in the middle of the base." Shadow said.  
"So....we dash out and cause some chaos." I said, flying through the walls in one direction as Sonic and Shadow took off in other directions.  
  
Meanwhile....  
  
The hooded figure had made it outside and met with another guy in a black suit.  
"So, do you think that'll work?" he asked.  
"Well," The hooded figure said, taking off her robe, "It should."  
"Well, shall we go babe?" he said, calling his car.  
"Yes, our debt is now paid. We've righted where we went wrong." she said getting into his car.  
The two drove off into the sunset.....  
  
--------------------  
Neo-Gun...Control Center  
  
"No. 1, sir....we're getting reports of massive damage all over the complex." said a tiger reploid.  
"Damn, how could those three have caused so much trouble?" he said, pounding the control console, "I've got no choice....activate K-01!"  
I sped through the complex, letting them have it.  
Until.....  
I arrived at the Control Center.  
"Hahahahaha.....nice of you to make it, Ryan!" said No. 1.  
"You....prepare to die." I said, grabbing my saber.  
"Hmmm, something's different about you......." No. 1 said.  
"No, really....perhaps the green eyes...or maybe the spiky blond hair...or how about the fact that I'm now a human flashlight...." I said, putting on the sarcasm.  
"Well, than how about this....." he said as a capsule came out of the ground.  
A crackle of lightning and a clap of thunder happend as the contents of this capsule burst out.  
"*blinks* It....it....it can't be......" I said.  
"Aw, hello Ryan-boy......good to see you again...." said the mysterious reploid.  
"Hahahaha, say hello to K-01.........or you can just call him....Konamison."  
"Actually I prefer to be called Maximillian....." He said, thrusting his hand through No.1.  
"Argh..why?" No.1 said, collapsing.  
"Their can only be one number one...." Konami...er...Maximaillian said.  
No.1 died.......  
"Ha, *shakes head* another loser back to challenge me...." I said to Maximillian.  
"Perhaps, Ryan-boy, but it won't be the same." Maximillian said, popping a machinegun out of his arm.  
"Oh, crap...." I said as the bullets hit me.....and did no damage.  
"*blink* Huh? What?" I said, noticing I took no damage.  
"Hmmm, guess that won't work....Then..." he said, pulling out his own beamsaber, "Let's duel!"  
I activated mine, "Yes, seems fitting, I beat you on your grounds...now I'll beat you on my turf!" I said, lunging at him.  
Maximillian blocked and pushed me back.  
"That all ya got?" I said.  
"Nope, try this!" He said, chucking his saber at me.  
I bent down as it flew by me and stuck into the wall.  
"Nice try, but now....your finished!" I said, rushing at him, "Final Slash!"  
My saber cut through him and sliced him into two.  
"Ouch....." he said as both halves of Maximillian sparked.  
I put up my saber.  
"I win...." I said as Maximillian exploded.  
  
Sonic and Shadow soon caught up, carrying the injured, but thankfully alive Knuckles and Tails.  
"*phew* Thank God they're all right." I said.  
Something in the background caught Sonic's eye.  
Sonic tossed Knuckles at me.  
"You guys go, I'll meet you outside." Sonic said.  
"Um....Okay." I said, following Shadow out.  
Sonic looked around and found what he saw.  
"Oh, my, God.....they were going to....." he said, pushing a button.  
A wall slid up and there appeared one golden capsule.  
"Hmmm, good, he hasn't been fully programmed." Sonic said, lifting the capsule and taking off.  
  
------------------------  
My House.....2 days later.  
  
In the end, the President sooned realized his mistakes and began to create a story that G.U.N. underminded his postions and went against him.  
This, of course, was total crap...but we still went and accepted his small token of appreciation for stopping the reploids.  
Some Congressional medal and a small reward.......that's politics for you.  
  
Anyway, Knuckles and Tails are recovering fine and should be good soon. Well, now its back to the normal drag......something still bugs me though.  
Who exactly was that mysterious person who helped us?  
She seemed familiar.....I sensed her before, but where I can't remember......anyway, at least this experience has taken my mind off my loss for awhile.  
But now I once again play the game, missing her.....and hoping for something good to happen one day............................  
  
------------------------  
Present Day and Time.....Space Between Dimensions  
  
I awoke and was in a cold sweat.  
I looked over and saw Charmy.  
That made me smile and then I layed back down.  
It awoke Charmy, "You okay Ry?" Charmy asked.  
I smiled and kissed her, "What do you think?"  
"I'll take that as a yes." She said, snuggling back up to me.  
I soon was asleep again and dreamed a dream, of a typical new dream............. 


	8. Zero Factor

DDR HEARTS: Zero Factor  
By  
Darkness Shade  
  
  
  
  
Authors' Note: I own the story and myselves, all other are copyright there own respective companies. (Dark: What he said....Ryan's POV....Platinum Star and Dark Cube are names created by Mia Ausa and her brother.......)  
  
  
------------------------  
Space Between Dimensions  
  
"Well, here's our next stop." I said, pulling into orbit.  
"About time, I've been itching for some action." Sonic said, cracking his knuckles.  
"Whatever, let's find out about this world." Charmy said, pushing some buttons.  
Earth_21XX: This world is populated by humans and a revolutionary new type of robot...named a reploid... *Sonic, Shadow, and Ryan look at each other*...created by the benevolent DR.Cain. However, certain reploids, called Mavericks, have turned against humans and cause havoc and chaos. There is hope, however, as a resistance group, the Maverick Hunters led by X and Zero, fight to protect humanity.  
"Well, seems we should meet up with this X and Zero dudes...." Charmy said.  
"Yeah...." I said, entering the atmoshpere.  
  
-------------------------  
Maverick HQ  
  
Sirens go off as an unidentified craft enters the atmosphere.  
"Hmmm..." says a bald reploid, wearing a black cloak, "perhaps we should investigate...."  
Two mavericks warp out....  
  
-------------------------  
Hunter HQ  
  
"Damn! This can't be good....." said a blue reploid.  
"Well...head out and see whether this new threat is friend or foe.." said a man in a  
white coat.  
"I really wish Zero was here...." The reploid said to himself, teleporting towards.....  
  
------------------------  
Outside Rep City  
  
We landed a bit rough, didn't decrease the speed enough, but we were no worse for wear.  
"Well, chalk that up to human error." I said, making sure everyone was okay.  
"Yeah, next time, I fly..." Charmy said, climbing out.  
Sonic and Shadow joined us as we looked at our surrondings.  
"Hmm, pretty snazzy." Sonic said.  
"Looks pretty high tech." Shadow said, watching the city's outline dotted with cars.  
Just then, I sensed a prescence.  
"Get ready guys, something's gonna go down." I said, drawing my saber.  
  
Two shapes approached us.  
"So, this is it? Two pathetic humans...and some freaky animals....what a waste of my time..." said a bald reploid.  
"Heh, waste of time? You're a waste of space, reploid..." I said, with a bit of hatred in my voice.  
"So, the human has spunk....well, prepare to die at the hands of the great...SIGMA!!!" Sigma said, tossing aside his cloak, revealing his beam scythe.  
"Well, I'm waiting...." I said, taking my stance.  
Sigma charged at me and brought his scythe down, I blocked and pushed him back.  
"Well, it seems the human is a little more than just talk...I'll let you test yourself against one of my henchman." Sigma said, motioning towards the other shadow.  
"Another pile for the scrapheap..." I said, readying for his attack.  
"May I present, Dark Cube." Sigma said.  
"Dark Cube? What the hell kinda name is that?" I said, about to laugh.  
"Guess Capcom is really starting to clutch at strings here.." Sonic said to Shadow.  
"Yep..." Shadow said.  
"Argh, fight dammit!!" Dark Cube said, charging me.  
I sidestepped and DC tripped on himself, falling down.  
I bust out laughing...this was pathetic.  
"Stupid Human!! You die now.." He charged....right into my saber, "Oh, dear....*dies*"  
I pulled my saber out and let him drop.  
"Too easy....and you're next." I said, pointing to Sigma.  
"I won't fall as quickly.....*to himself*...note to self, ask Capcom for better lackeys..." Sigma said.  
  
X arrived at the field and saw...a human?...and he was making sport of Sigma?  
"Well, this is new...." X said, making his way towards us.  
"So...*pant*..ready to give...*pant*..up Sigma?" I said, taking a defensive stance.  
"Stupid human, I don't tire...but you do....and you'll soon be too weak to fight." Sigma said, readying an attack.  
"Damn, he's right." I thought. I couldn't go on much more.  
Suddenly, Sigma charged.  
I couldn't block...but, he missed?  
Sigma fell back as he was it square in the chest by a burst of plasma.  
"Argh, X!! You'll pay...." Sigma said, warping out.  
At about that time, I blacked out from exhaustion....  
  
-------------------  
Hunter HQ  
  
I awoke hours later in what appeared to be a hospital room.  
"Where...am...I?" I said, my head pounding.  
I remember landing, then those two reploids, then....I saw Charmy.  
"Hey, sleepy head..wake up." I said, shaking her gently.  
"Oh, you're up...*smile*..good." she said, kissing me.  
"Thanks...where are we anyway?" I asked.  
"I can answer that." said X, walking into the room.  
"And who might you be?" I said.  
"I'm X....and you're in Hunter Headquarters." he said.  
"Okay, so what happend? Where's Sigma?"  
"I got him to leave after you held him off....I must say, I was quite impressed that a human could hold him off."  
"Well, I'm not your normal human." I said with a smile.  
  
X caught me up on what was happening and the recent troulbes.  
It seemed that the Mavericks had some kind of new allies...that's what Dark Cube was.  
"Hmm, heartless...I can sense it..." I thought to myself, "That must be it."  
"Anyway...my partner, Zero, disappeared awhile ago....he went to investigate this new power, but then....he just disappeared." X said, "Haven't heard a word in six months."  
"Whoa...you've been dealing with this for a long time then." Sonic said.  
"Yes...that it has." X said, a bit saddened.  
"Hey, cheer up...we're here to help." I said, reassuring X.  
"Thank you for your help....now, this is the what we need to do....."  
  
----------------------------  
Somewhere in the galaxy  
  
A lone figure flies through space, searching for someone.  
"Emi....Mia...where could you be?" the figure said.  
The figure was glowing purple as he went through the atmosphere and landed on a new planet.  
"Ryan....if only we'd known they'd come back....and we weren't ready...." the figure said.  
"*flashback* It was only one week after you guys left.....they came out of nowhere...we just couldn't fight back....even our Orochi forms couldn't fight them....they destroyed our world....and took Mia and Emi....well, I won't let them win...." the figure said, dashing towards destiny...  
  
----------------------------  
Outside Maverick HQ  
  
This was suicide...I mean, one reploid, two humans, and two anthros against a whole army of evil reploids backed by heartless? The odds were against us.  
"Okay, we need to strike quick and hard..." X said, "that's the best way to go about it..."  
"Right, but we need to be careful, we don't need to get overwhelmed." I said.  
Sonic and Shadow held me back..  
"Yeah? What's wrong guys?" I asked.  
"Well, doesn't this almost seem like back then..." Sonic said.  
"Well, yeah.....but we won then, right?" I said.  
"True, but we had the help of others then...." Shadow said.  
"Come on guys, catch up!" Charmy shouted.  
  
We slowly made our way to the summit...and there it was...Sigma's new base.  
"You think people would notice him building these things, but noooooo...." Sonic said, being sarcastic.  
"Well, when you're the most feared reploid on Earth, you don't get complaints." X said, trying to make a joke to ease the tension.  
  
-----------------------------  
Inside Maverick HQ  
  
"Okay Vile....what's the deal? Who are these allies you spoke of? Dark Cube was not much help..." Sigma said, still recouping from the beatdown he received.  
"Don't worry sir....we've even recruited help from the most unlikely source." Vile said with a wicked grin, showing a pair of shadows.  
"Him?! But how did you do it?" Sigma said.  
"That's the power of the heartless." Vile said.  
Suddenly, alarms went off.  
"Hmm, seems we've got some uninvited guests....send those two after them." Sigma ordered.  
"Yes sir...you heard him...Go!!" Vile shouted at the two reploids.  
They dashed off towards...  
  
...Great, just great....."Nice job Sonic!!" I said, trying to dodge the laser blasts.  
"It's not my fault....I'm too fast...." Sonic said, plowing through a door.  
"This way...." X said, taking a right door. I followed just as it closed.  
"Damn, well, this way guys." Shadow said, heading through the door on the left.  
I was banging on the door.  
"Open, damn you!" I said.  
"Too late, let's just keep going." X said, motioning.  
I followed reluctantly.  
  
Charmy, Sonic, and Shadow entered a large room in stars and bright metal.  
"Whoa, this place is shiny." Charmy said, drawing her gun.  
"Be on guard, I feel something is up...this room doesn't feel normal." Shadow said.  
Just then a reploid dashed down from the ceiling.  
"Welcome...I'm Platinum Star...and I'm...*unsheates star blaster*...your nightmare."  
"Yeah, right....I don't think so...." Charmy said, releasing an EMP pulse.  
The pulse hit Platinum and bounced off?  
"Sorry, but reploids are sheilded, that ain't gonna help you..." Platinum Star said with a laugh.  
"Damn...this'll be tough..." Charmy said, readying for a fight.  
  
X and I walked along till we were in a large, barren room.  
Suddenly, X just stopped.  
"Um, you okay X?" I asked.  
"It's...It's as if I'm feeling a prescence I know...." X said.  
"That's because you are." a voice said.  
"Come out!" I shouted.  
A reploid clad in black armor, with a long ponytail, clenching a golden saber, dropped down onto the floor.  
"Z...Ze...Zero?!" X said.  
The reploid laughed and smiled.  
"Maybe....that used to be my name..." Z said.  
"Well, I don't know who you are, but if you're in our way...*draws saber*...I'll have to stop you." I said.  
"Fine human...let's go!" Z said, charging me.  
X looked on, how could he fight his friend?  
"No, Zero stop...." X said.  
Zero kept on parrying blow after blow, matching me move for move.  
"You're pretty good...too bad I have to kill you." I said, slashing his ponytail.  
"Argh! Don't mess with my hair." Z said, going postal.  
"Whoa, X...help!" I said, being forced into a corner.  
  
Charmy ducked behind some debris, this wasn't going good.  
Sonic was unconscious, and Shadow wasn't of much help.  
"Ryan, where the hell are you when I need you?" Charmy said, shooting at Platinum.  
Platinum knocked the shots away and fired at the debris, knocking parts away till it was all gone.  
"So, human, and...whatever those two freaky animals are...ready to die?" Platinum said.  
"I've got a better idea....*cue theme*....why don't you...*draws saber*...die!!!" ??? said as he sliced Platinum in half....and disappeared.  
"What the?" Charmy said, "Who was that?"  
Charmy went about healing Sonic and Shadow, and they continued onward.  
  
Meanwhile, I was getting my ass kicked by Z.  
X couldn't fight him....he couldn't hurt his friend....  
"X, help me....or I'm going to die." I said, fighting back in vane.  
That word...it got to X....he screamed as he called for his Ultimate Armor.  
"Zero, I don't know what happend to you....but I can't let this happen anymore...NOVA STRIKE!!!" X said, jumping in the air and ripping straight through Z.  
Z exploded and there was nothing left.  
"*blinks* Wow...nice one X." I said, getting up.  
"*sighs* Why more violence...?" he said, catching up to me.  
A mysterious figure jumped down.  
"Well, nice job X....guess you can fight without my help." ??? said, dashing into the shadows.  
  
----------------------------  
Sigma's Chamber  
  
As we walked along the corridor, something was off.  
"Something's wrong...it shouldn't be this easy, especially after what we just dealt with." I said.  
"Well, consider this a blessing..." X said, still donning his Ultimate Armor.  
As we round the bend, we ran straight into...  
"Ow!" Charmy said, hitting the ground.  
"Hey, we found you." I said, helping her up.  
"Yeah, had a bit of trouble..." Sonic said, eyeing X, "I take it you did as well."  
"Yes, well....I'd rather not talk about it...let's just find Sigma and finish this." X said, walking on.  
  
We entered a room and the only way was up.  
"So, he's up there isn't he?" Shadow asked.  
"Yep, so...can you guys get up there?" X said, starting to climb the walls.  
I smiled, "Well....just watch."  
The four of us concentrated and started flying up.  
"*blink* Whoa....you aren't normal humans are you?" X said, trying to keep up.  
"Nope." Charmy said.  
As we reached the top of the shaft, a door came up and closed.  
"Hmm, from what we've seen before, now the lights'll go out..." Sonic said, just as they did.  
"They'll be some weird lights in the background...." Charmy said, as a pair of eyes flashed.  
"And then the bad guy'll show up...." I said, as the lights turned back on.  
X sweatdropped, "You guys must've done this before."  
"You could say that...." Shadow said.  
  
"Hahahahaha....." Sigma said, wearing his cloak.  
"*sighs* These bad guys are too cliched..." I said, shaking my head.  
"Um, you gonna fight or not?" Sigma said, getting a bit impatient.  
"Noooo, we're gonna waste ten minutes bantering back and forth about our ideals and then we'll just slice you to dust...." Sonic said, annoying Sigma.  
Sigma tossed away his cloak, grabbed his scythe, and took his stance.....  
....which did no good, when another reploid came from behind and ran him through.  
"Ack!!! *turns around* You?! But you..how?!" Sigma said.  
"Well...those creepy heartlackers of Vile's couldn't take me....that was a clone." ??? said.  
"Um, they're called heartless..." I said, correcting ???.  
"*rolls eyes* Whatever...*lifts saber up, spliting Sigma in half*....guess that means we're done." ??? said.  
"Zero! You're alive." X said, running over to his friend.  
"Yeah, you don't think I'd die that easily..." Zero said, "Besides, I've died so many times it's not funny...*laughs*.."  
  
"Don't celebrate so quickly." Vile said, dropping down in his new walker.  
"Not you again..." X said, taking a stance.  
"Congrats Key Master..." Vile said, looking at me, "But I doubt you can take this...my new Shadowdancer walker."  
Vile then disappeared....and the lights went dark.  
"Okay, something's up...why'd he leave?" I said.  
Suddenly the wall began to crumble, revealing a new path.  
"This may be a trap...but, well, gotta do what we gotta do." Zero said, flashing a grin.  
I could do nothing but agree....we dashed off down the tunnel towards a light.  
  
We ended up on a freeway.  
"Hey, Zero...this looks familiar?" X said.  
"Yes....heh, to think it's been so long since we've been here...back where it started." Zero said, dashing along.  
There at the end of the freeways was Vile, waiting for us.  
"Ah, you've made it....just in time to die." Vile said, laughing.  
"I don't think so." I said, readying my KeySaber.  
"That won't save you from this...." Vile said, pushing some buttons.  
The sky darkened as Vile's Shadowdancer walker changed, Vile becoming one with it.  
"Whoa, that can't be good." I said, trying to see a weak point.  
Vile was now about four feet taller, had a huge, black plasma cannon on his shoulder, his armor a dark cross between purple and black.  
"*laughs* So, still as cocky?" Shadow Vile said.  
"I beat you once, I'll do it again." X said, dashing up and performing his Nova Strike attack.  
"Ha, pathetic." Shadow Vile said, knocking X down and hitting him with a plasma grenade.  
"X!! Dammit!!" Zero said, grabbing his saber.  
Zero did some kind of weird move and eletrified his saber.  
He hit Vile dead on, and Vile froze.  
"Now!!" Zero shouted at me.  
"Right!!" I said, focusing,"*think* Come on Dark, need your help on this one."  
My appearance changed, my shades appearing and the leather jacket materializing.  
"So," We said in our combined voice, "Time to take out Vile."  
I flung Vile into the air and held him in place.  
"Ready?" We said, throwing out my arms and moving them in a pattern, drawing them in, throwing them out, and linking them together.  
"Light Force Attack!!!!" We said, letting loose a blinding flash of pure, white light.  
Vile could do nothing as the attack hit him.  
"Argh...no....you may get me....but you'll never beat...Anse.......*bzzt*..." Vile said, speaking his last.  
"*think* Thanks Dark, I'll take back control." I said, becoming just plain Ryan again.  
"No worries....I will be back." Dark told me, returning to my subconscious.  
  
"X, don't die on me." Zero said, holding his partner up.  
"Ugh....I feel like shit..." X said, holding his head.  
"*laughs* Well, seems that armor came in handy for something...it pretty much protected you against that blast...there ain't any of it left." Zero said, helping X up.  
"Well...Key Master..." Zero said, "You gonna seal up this world too?"  
"Huh? How do you know about that?" I asked.  
"Well...I stumbled upon Vile's little plan, but had to hide when they thought they had me...in reality it was a fake.....so, you gonna or what?" Zero said.  
"Um, sure...but where is the damn thing?" I said, looking around.  
Follow me...this way....  
  
------------------------  
Unknown Location  
  
"Damn...well, seems I'm the last one left...." General Mokuvai said.  
Suddenly the hooded figure showed up.  
"Do not give up......I can give you what you need..."  
Suddenly noises of what is a struggle can be heard some distance away.  
"What the hell?" Mokuvai said.  
"Hmm, even with his planet gone, his will was so strong he came after them." the hooded figure said, "No matter....he won't succeed, even with the Key Master's help."  
  
------------------------  
Maverick HQ: Sigma's Chamber Ruins  
  
"What're we doing here?" I asked.  
"Well," Zero said, pushing some buttons, "This is why."  
A false wall moved and revealed a CPU, with a large keyhole in it.  
"Hmm, that's the last place I'd expect to see it." Shadow said.  
"Right, time to close it." I said, pointing the Keysaber at it.  
The beam shot out as it sealed the world from heartless influence.  
"Bingo....well, our job is done...time for us to leave..." I said, as we headed back to our ship.  
  
--------------------------  
Outskirts of Rep City  
  
"Well, we thank you for your help." X said.  
"Yeah, good luck...and don't let them heartlackers win." Zero said.  
"We won't.....and its heartless." I said with a laugh.  
"Whatever...." Zero said.  
X handed me something.  
"What's this?" I said.  
"Here..a powerup from one of the robots you trashed earlier...it should help." X said.  
"Thanks man..." I said, attaching it to my Keysaber, turning it into Keysaber:'X-Factor'.  
Charmy, Shadow, Sonic and I got into our ship, waved goodbye, and took off.  
"Well, there goes some of the weirdest guys we've met yet." Zero said.  
"Yeah...but they'll succeed, I know it....now, let's get back to HQ...." X said, as the two of them warped back.  
  
---------------------------  
Space Between Dimensions  
  
"Okay, time for the next world...." I said, plotting a course.  
"You know...it seems as if we've been going at this for awhile...how many more worlds do you think there are?" Charmy said, getting comfortable.  
"I don't know...but, whatever comes our way, we'll succeed." Sonic said.  
"We must..." Shadow said, "And we will...."  
"Right...here we go!" I said, activating the hyper-drive. 


	9. Mecha Interference

DDR HEARTS: Mecha Interference  
By  
Darkness Shade  
  
A/N: Don't own anything I use, it's copyright to the people that do own them....story is mine.....um..(Dark: Get on with it...)...*blink*...Fine!....Ryan's POV.......  
----------------------------  
Space Between Dimensions  
  
"Well.....you guys ready? We're coming up on the next planet..." I said, chekcing the control panel.  
"Ready and willing...time for adventure." Sonic said with his usual enthusiasm.  
"I just hope it ends soon....." Charmy said, "I just want peace again..."  
"Don't we all..." I said, "Don't we all....anywho, let's check out this next world."  
Earth: Future Century 60.....The world is a shell of what it used to be, partly due to the great battles that occur. The countries of the world now occupy amazing space colonies, each fighting for control of the Earth. This is done through the Gundam Fight. The last one, number 13, nearly ended Earth after the emergence of what is known as the Dark Gundam....but, a single Gundam warrior, Domon Kasshu, managed to harnass his abilites and bring peace to the world...at least for now.....  
"Sounds like some heavy stuff went down here....but Gundams? Real Gundams?" Shadow asked.  
"Yeah..who knew...back on our Earth it was just some anime....." I said.  
"Wonder if they're easy to control?" Sonic said.  
"Um, do you even really need those...you guys are strong enough as it is...." Charmy said.  
"*thinks* Well, I guess you're right....let's just land and set about saving this world." I said, beginning our descent.  
  
---------------------------  
Old-Jville  
  
I was a bit taken back...the computer wasn't lieing when it said that the Earth here was totally ruined.  
The altered version of my hometown was...was...it looked like a natural disaster had happend.  
"Man.....this is depressing..." Charmy said, seeing the crumbling buildings and the darkened sky.  
"Well....where should we start looking?" Sonic said.  
As if in response, a huge explosion occured about a 100 feet from where we were.  
"I think that would be the best place to start looking." I said, dashing off with the others behind.  
  
When we reached the source of the explosion, we saw what I beleived was a Gundam, getting attacked by what appeared to be another Gundam, yet....something about it gave me a weird feeling.  
"Hey Ryan....on that black one...that symbol...." Charmy said.  
As soon as I saw it, I knew what that feeling was. It was the Heartless symbol and it seemed poised to destroy the other Gundam.  
"Well....let's do something....it's only a machine." I said, flying up to a stable rooftop.  
  
"Man...what is that thing?" said a figure in the other Gundam, "It...it's almost like the Dark Gundam..."  
The figure dodged the Heartless Gundam's assault, still unsure how to attack.  
"Well...anything is better than all this dodging." the figure said, drawing his beam saber.  
He slashed at the Heartless Gundam and sliced of its arm.  
"Yes.....what? It can't be!" the figure said as the something shot from the Heartless Gundam's arm socket and grabbed hold of the sliced off limb, reattaching it.  
"Damn! Now what? Huh? Who's that?" he said as I fly straight through the Heartless Gundam, my Keysaber incinerating it's operator and the entity that was the Gundam itself.  
"Hmm....better find out who this guy is." the man said, jumping out the hatch of his Gundam.  
  
"Hey you!" he said to me.  
"Yes...you must be the pilot of that Gundam." I said.  
"I would...just who the hell are you? You took that thing down like it was nothing."  
"I'm Ryan. And..*points*..that's Sonic, Shadow, and Charmy."  
"Well...judging from what you did, it's safe to assume you're on my side." he said sticking out his hand, "My name is Domon Kasshu."  
"Well...good to meet you." I said, shaking his hand.  
"That's a pretty amazing machine you've got there." Sonic said, looking over his Gundam.  
"Yeah...Burning Gundam has been pretty helpful...especially since this new threat appeared.." Domon said.  
"You mean the heartless?" Shadow said.  
"That's what those things are called? Well, yes..those..." Domon said, "They've been causing a lot of trouble...the others of the shuffle alliance have all been injured from battling, so I'm the last one left.." Domon said.  
"Shuffle Alliance?"  
"This...*shows hand and flashes his crest*..certain warriors are deemed worthy of these and become a member of the shuffle alliance."  
"King of Hearts, eh?" Charmy said, reading the crest, "Sounds pretty cool."  
"I'd appreciate your help, so follow me." Domon said, calling for the core car from his Gundam, "I've only got room for another....but I'm sure those three could keep up."  
"You don't know the half of it." I said with a grin.  
We let Charmy go ahead and ride with Domon as I flew and Shad and Sonic ran.  
I must say that the look on Domon's face was something else as he saw the three of us not only keep up with his car, but pass him once and awhile.  
  
-------------------------  
Domon's hangar  
  
Domon stopped his car and signaled this was the place.  
"Not bad....quiet, isolated...perfect place for a base." I said.  
"Yeah...it's the best we could do after we lost almost everything to the Heartless." Domon said, typing on a panel.  
One of the hangar doors opened up and we followed Domon in.  
We saw another Gundam laying down on the ground, sparks flyin from it.  
"Hey, Rain, we've got company."  
A cute looking girl popped out from the cockpit and looked at us.  
She looked kinda goofy with her goggles on.  
"Oh, hey Domon...*looks at us* Well, you seemed to have found some, uh, interesting friends.." Rain said.  
"Yes....I think they can help, especially with the others injured."  
"Well, this place isn't much, but make yourselves at home."  
  
We sat with Domon and learned how everything happend.....  
...after he defeated the Dark Gundam and married Rain, they kinda relaxed and the Earth had the first peace it's seen in years...till some odd reports of stars just disappearing made it's way around. Soon almost all the stars in the sky disappeared. Then, a strange darkness headed towards their Earth. But as mysteriously as it appeared, it disappeared. No one thought anything happend till the mysterious Heartless Gundams began attacking....  
"Sounds heavy Domon...I hope we can help." I said, thinking over the situation.  
"Well...something else is also going on. Ever since the Heartless began attacking, we've lost contact with our contacts in Neo-Japan, as well as the other Shuffle members being incapacitated. So we've just gone around, trying to find answers while defeating as many of those Heartless things as we could."  
"Yes...Chibidi, Sai-Sachi, Argo, and George....Domon's the last member left...and it's taking the toll on him." Rain said, joining us.  
"Well...is there anyway we could pilot one of their Gundams? Maybe then we could even the odds..." Sonic said.  
"I don't know....the calibration may not match and you guys have never piloted using the mobile-trace system before, so I've no idea what may result from it."  
"But...it's worth a shot..." Shadow said, "There's not much to lose..."  
"Well.....*thinks*.......Let's get to work then." Domon said, motioning for Rain to follow.  
  
After about three or so days of endless work, Rain and Domon finished reconfiguring the Gundams for us. Even more suprising was that I was able to help them, even though I'd never seen a Gundam before.  
"Well..time to see if you guys can do it." Domon said, as the four of us each toke a Gundam.  
I was in Gundam Maxster.  
Charmy was in the Dragon Gundam.  
Shadow choose to take his chances with the rebuilt Shadow Gundam.  
And Sonic was in Bolt Gundam.  
"Okay..just relax and don't fight the system." Domon said as the mobile-trace suit began to appear over our clothes.  
"Agh....it's tight..." Charmy said, falling to her knees.  
"Just hang on." I said, stretching.  
  
It was quite an intense feeling, and the mobile suits had great reflex times.  
It even managed to keep up with Sonic's quick reflexes.  
The first few days were tough, but we eventually learned to control our "borrowed" Gundams.  
  
-------------------  
Neo-Japan: HQ  
  
"It's even worse than I thought.." said General Mokuvai, "Not only did they meet up with Domon....They've actually learned how to use Gundams!!"  
"Calm down." said a mysterious, hooded figure, "Their is a way...I can increase your power...."  
"How?"  
"Like this!!" the figure said, shooting Mokuvai with a dark bolt of energy.  
"This...Power...I will...DEFEAT THEM!!" Mokuvai said, while the shilloute of a Gundam is seen in the background.  
  
--------------------  
Downtown Jville  
  
..They just kept coming.  
"We won't last long." Domon shouted, slicing another Heartless Gundam in half.  
"We've got to keep fighting." Charmy said, setting a number of Heartless ablaze.  
"Right....if we give up now, they've already won." I said, unleashing a fury of punches, knocking one Heartless into another.  
"Burning Finger!!" Domon shouted, taking down two more....then....they disappeared.  
"Hmmm, this doesn't look good." Shadow said.  
Frankly, I had to agree....when the lackeys back off, that can mean only one thing.  
Just then, a blaze was seen streaking through the atmosphere.  
"I should've guessed it...here's come the leader." Domon said, taking a defense stance.  
The Gundam that descended was by far the strangest looking one ever.  
It was black with the heartless emblem, had two pairs of tri-fold wings, telescoping arms with Heartless heads instead of hands, and it almost appeared to be...alive.  
"So, no wonder we haven't heard from HQ.....you were in on it the whole time." Domon shouted at the mysterious Gundam.  
"Well, Domon...I must congratulate you on actually finding replacements for your pathetic shuffle alliance...but even they can't stop you from this...the DarkStalker Gundam!!" said Mokuvai.  
I scoffed, who did this guy think he was.  
"Look...enough talk...I'm taking you down!" I said, drawing my Keysaber, the Gundam did likewise.  
"Huh? That's new...." Domon said.  
"Yeah, I made some modifications....they should come in handy." I said, drawing the Keysaber back and charging it up.  
"So, you're that brat that gave all the others so much trouble....It'll be a great pleasure to destroy you." Mokuvai said.  
"You wish, if the others couldn't, what chance do you think you have?" I said, charging at him, slicing with the Keysaber....  
...which he caught?  
"NO...*blink*..how?!" I said as he threw me backwards.  
"You can think the man behind the scenes for this one." Mokuvai said, unleashing a wave of darkness that destroyed the right leg of my Gundam.  
"AHHHH!" I screamed, it felt like my own leg was blown off.  
"This doesn't look good...." Domon said.  
  
--------------------------  
J-Ville: Another section  
  
A mysterious figure was walking along.  
"I've tracked him to here, so hopefully I can find him."  
As he was walking along he saw....a Gundam?  
"No way, I thought they weren't real...but perhaps they are."  
He took a look around it, saw that there was no way in, and began walking off.  
"Hey, boy...stop." said a man dressed in purple garbs.  
"Yes...can I help you?" the figure said, his hand slowly heading towards his saber.  
"They'll be no need for that...." the man said, "Your friends are in trouble."  
"What...How do you know?"  
"That's not important.....take my Gundam...don't worry, you'll know what to do."  
"Um..okay..."  
The figure jumped into the cockpit of the Gundam and immediately took off.  
"Good luck...and....good luck to you as well, King of Hearts..."  
With that the man faded from sight...  
  
---------------------------  
Back at the Action  
  
Domon was barely holding off Mokuvai, he was the only one left standing.  
Sonic was unconsicous, Charmy's legs and one of the arms were completely gone, I wasn't much help, and Shadow had barely ejected before the Shadow Gundam blew up.  
"So, it seems the Heartless will win after all...then I alone shall rule all worlds." Mokuvai prattled.  
"I won't...let you..win." Domon said, focusing all his strength, "Take this!!"  
Domon pushed Mokuvai back, put his hands together and shouted, "Sekiha Tenkyoken!!"  
A huge blast of energy flew towards and engulfed Mokuvai's Gundam.  
"Yes...I did it." Domon said, as a cloud of dust rose up from the attack's impact.  
When the dust settled, Domon couldn't beleive his eyes.  
"Hmph, some attack...I'm not even damaged. Try this!" Mokuvai said, shooting out his arms and clamped down on Domon's Burning Gundam.  
"AHHHH! NOOO!" Domon screamed in pain as the Heartless heads sent dark energy through Domon till he collapsed.  
At this point I pretty much figured we were lost...then something flew down and smacked the DarkStalker Gundam down.  
"That...Gundam....could it be?" Domon said, "Master....?"  
  
"Well..that man was right...looks like they're all down for the count." the figure said, shooting out a blast that knocked Mokuvai down.  
"So," Mokuvai said, getting up, "Another person to destroy."  
"Don't think I'll be that easy..." the figure said, pulling out a twin-saber, "...it'll take more than you've got to defeat me."  
Mokuvai put together his arms and attemped to pull off his Heartless Clamp attack, but our mysterious hero was one step ahead.  
He drew back his saber and knocked the attack right back at Mokuvai.  
"ACK!!!" Mokuvai shouted, the dark energy too much to handle.  
"I'd hate to do this, but....you must be stopped." the mysterious figure said, bringing his saber around and shoving it right through the cockpit of the DarkStalker Gundam.  
"UGH.......no......" Mokuvai shouted as the DarkStaker dissappated and Mokuvai's body dissolved into nothingness.  
  
The mysterious figure landed and helped the others out of their Gundams.  
"You're not Master...but you've got his Gundam...how?" Domon asked.  
"Well...I met this man in purple clothes, he told me you guys were in trouble and to take his Gundam and go....perhaps he was this Master you speak of." said the figure.  
"Well..good to see ya Terry, but...I figure something bad went down..." I said to my friend.  
"Yes.....but there's no time for that now." Terry said.  
"But...Master...he died awhile ago......perhaps his spirti lives on." Domon said.  
"Yes," I said, "And it seems that the Heartless power was too much for Mokuvai...there's nothing left of him or that damn Gundam of his."  
"Well...then..I guess that means all that's left is for you to seal up the keyhole." Charmy said, still clutching her arm.  
"Keyhole?" Domon asked, "I think I've seen something like that before..follow me.." Domon said, running despite his injuries.  
  
We arrived at an old, run-down building on the edge of town.  
"This used to be the old fighting coliseium, until it was destroyed during the 4th Gundam Fight Finals." Domon said, "And there's the main display, the Ultimate Gundam statue."  
"Very nice....most've been some fight to bring this place down." I said, looking around.  
Suddenly, the chest plate of the Gundam began to glow.  
"There it is...." Domon said.  
"Okay, stand back." I said, raising up my Keysaber.  
A beam of light shot forth from it, hit the Keyhole and a locking sound was heard.  
Something fell out of the hole.  
"Hey, another peice of warp gummi...wonder if we can use it?" Charmy said, picking it up.  
"Don't know...but hopefully Cid'll know what to do." Sonic said.  
"Okay...time for us to leave." I said.  
  
----------------------------  
Old Jville: Gummiship location  
  
"Well...we appreciate the help...perhaps now we can get back to the simplier things." Domon said, shaking my hand.  
"Yeah, but that's what we're supposed to do." I said.  
"Tell your friends we're sorry that we kinda trashed their Gundams." Charmy said.  
"Oh, I don't think they'll care since we just saved the world...again." Rain said.  
"Oh, before you go...here." Domon said, handing me a keychain shaped like his Gundam, "For good luck, I figure you guys will need it."  
"Thanks man." I said, attaching it to my Keysaber, transforming it into Keysaber:Burning Heat.  
We waved good-bye as we got into our ship and took off.  
  
----------------------------  
Space Between Dimensions...after a quick stop at Traverse Town  
  
"Well...I know that if whatever this warp leads to scared Cid..it must be something." Charmy said.  
"Yes...I sense a Dark presence." Terry said.  
"Something is definitely out there...and it can't be good..." I said.  
"By the way...how did you get here?" Shadow asked.  
  
"Well....it's a long story." Terry began, "...sometime after you guys left, we had finally got things rebuilt and running again in Vane. And Mia had actually been able to institute some new things to keep the people from falling into their old ways. Things were looking up....but then they came crashing down. Someone, some hooded dude, came with an army of super-powerful Heartless.....*pauses*.....we never had a chance. They took away Mia and Emi, I have no idea why, and then the Heartless overran the planet somehow, even though you sealed the keyhole. My sheer will allowed me to escape, even Mia and mine's Orochi selves stood no chance.....so I manage to escape and have tracking after you guys ever since....then I manage to catch up with you guys here."  
"*blink* Whoa....it sounds like that hooded-dude is causing trouble...and is quite powerful." Sonic said.  
"Yes, he is.....but we must stick together and save the others....for some reason they've been collecting key girls from the worlds.....I beleive I overheard Mokuvai call them the Princesses of Dance. I don't know what they're up too, but I think they are trying to call back that mysterious DDRist who tried to take over the world." Terry said.  
"Well," I said, piloting towards the warp, "It's time to face our destiny....." 


	10. Backstory: Past Events, Future Problems

DDR HEARTS: Backstory-Past Events equal Future Problems  
By  
Darkness Shade  
A/N: Getting near the end, gotta hold out....(Dark: *shakes head* Always in riddles, aren't you?)....so....time for more light to be shed.....from....Cid's POV...(Dark: *gasp* Not from Ryan's? That's a good change......)..*sigh*..on with the chapter...  
' '= reflection from future self  
---------------------------  
Traverse Town: Docks  
  
I watched them lift off...towards their destiny.  
I had reservations against giving them the final peice, but...they had to do it, they are the ones to save the universe.  
"So long Cid." Ryan said, waving his hand, "We won't lose....we will save the worlds."  
Heh, that kid reminded me of myself, a long time ago.....  
  
--------------------------  
12 Years Ago......  
  
'Back then, we were young, strong-headed, a lot like that kid...the Keymaster.  
We lived together, on our original world....way before the heartless came and....well......'  
  
"Hey, Cid....wait up."  
I looked for the source, it was Squall; 'He changed his name to Leon after the events that occured on our home world about a year or so ago...he always blamed himself for how the heartless took over'.  
"Yo, what's up Squall? Why the hurry?"  
"Hey, she's here again....at the arcade..."  
"You mean...Ansemian? *laughs* I wondered when she'd come back again." I said.  
'Ansemian was a good friend...and a brilliant one at that...not to mention that game...she was always obsessed with that game....'  
  
When we got there, she was already at it. She was an odd friend, but she was loyal...'That's what I thought...but thing's do change...'  
"Hey, Anse...what's up?"; 'Anse, she never really let anyone call her that but me....it always got to her....but secretly I think she liked having a nickname....'  
"Not much Cid....just trying to get better...and of course, visiting you guys...it's been awhile." Ansemian said.  
"It has been...almost a full year, what'cha been up to anyway?" I asked.  
"Well, I've made some big discoveries....but I can't tell you guys yet." Ansemian said.  
"Oh, I see....Ms.Secrets strikes again." said a girl, walking up to us.  
"*chuckle* Nice to see you too, Yuffie." Ansemian said.  
"Still obsessed with that game....what do you get out of it?" Squall asked.  
"Yes...all those damn arrows and such, what kinda game is that?" I added.  
"Hey, you guys don't understand, but this game....there's something about it.....you just don't have the burning desire within you.....well, almost all of you..." Ansemian said.  
"Almost all of us?" I asked, "Who actually understands?"  
Ansemian pointed towards a guy with blond hair, standing in the corner watching the machine.  
"No..way..Cloud?!" Yuffie said, "He's into DDR?!"  
"Um, yes...but he'd never admit it." Ansemian said, "It's almost as bad as how I have it.....but...I'm still not the best."  
'Being the best...she always did want to be the best....it's what soon drove her to the brink of insanity'  
We chatted for awhile more, watched Anse play and see that she had indeed gotten better, and kept spying on Cloud.  
'You'd never think it now....but how else could he use that big sword, all that freestyling built up his arm muscles....'  
After awhile, we parted ways and headed for our homes...  
  
---------------------------  
Ansemian's House/Lab  
  
"They don't realize that I must be the best." Ansemian said, sitting on her roof looking at the sky.  
Suddenly, she noticed somethings moving along the ground.  
"Eh? What's that?" she said, jumping down to the ground.  
The shape went under her house, below the floor towards the basement.  
"I'd better check this out."  
She made her way into her house, down to the bowels of her basement, which was also her makeshift lab.  
There, in the corner, was what appeared to be a living shadow.  
"Huh? I must be seeing things." she said, walking up to it.  
The shadow stared and kinda twitched....before splitting into two.  
"Whoa....amazing...asexual reproduction in a complex organism...fascinating." she said, making notes on a pad of paper she grabbed.  
"I may have just found my edge..." she said with a wicked smile.  
  
She set the shadow up in a cage and began running tests.  
"The power of this creature..it's amazing..but..." she said, looking over an X-ray, "They don't appear to have any..heart? That's proposterous....yet, it doesn't and still lives."  
She scratched her head and then realized something, the whole reason that this creature was so strong is that it had no heart, no emotion, no anything to hold it back from reaching its' potential.  
"Finally...I will be the best...and they will all know..." she said, as lightning flashed and bounced around her lab, as she prepped for the procedure.  
  
------------------------  
Hollow's Arcade  
  
"Well....Anse said to meet her here...said she wanted to show us something." I said, talking to Cloud and Squall.  
"I just hope she isn't wasting more of our time again...." Cloud said, his face unchanging.  
"What would you be doing anyway? Drooling over that sword in the collectors shop?" Squall said laughing, "I swear...there's no way you could ever lift that thing, let alone use it."  
'It was simpler then....much simpler....and Cloud was a bit looser than he is now..a bit.'  
"Whatever....let's just go in and find her." Cloud said, a bit annoyed by Squall's words but unchanged nonetheless.  
As we walked along, I noticed a crowd surronding the DDR machine.  
"Hmm...someone good must be here today." I said, then I watched my jaw drop to the floor, "Anse?!"  
Indeed it was her, moving at speeds I couldn't even fathom.  
"*blink*......" Cloud was speechless. 'That's probably the funniest thing I've ever seen..the look on Cloud's face was priceless.'  
She soon stopped and walked over to us.  
"Hey guys...what'cha think? Pretty tight, eh?"  
"Um, yeah Anse....wow!" I said, still a bit stunned myself.  
I then notices a strange mark on her arm.  
"Hey, what's that....? Did you hurt yourself?" I asked.  
"No...it's nothing." Anse said, becoming defensive.  
"Okay, chill...no need to overreact." Squall said, trying to avoid another fight.  
"You guys are the ones that need to learn to chill." Anse said, walking off.  
I felt a cold chill run down my spine as she walked by...what happend to her...she was different...and felt different too.  
  
----------------------------  
Ansemian's House  
  
"They'll never understand...." Anse said, "I'll just have to do something drastic then."  
She began to speed up and mutate the shadow creature's reproductive cycle.  
"Come..come my Heartless....serve your master." she shouted, thousands of these creatures springing to life.  
"If this world won't do....I'll just have to rule all worlds....."  
'At that moment...she changed forever...'  
  
----------------------------  
Bastion Courtyards  
  
It was a nice, spring night and we were relaxing, chatting about this and that and what is what.  
Anse, however, had been missing for some time...almost another year and a half.  
'Things were soon to heat up'  
Suddenly, the entire planet seemed to be plunged into eternal darkness.  
"Everyone, are you okay?" I shouted, trying to find my friends.  
"Yes...I'm over here with Squall." Yuffie said, trying to follow my voice.  
"Stay there...I'll try and find you guys." I said, taking care where I stepped.  
Then the darkness seemed to disappear and we were in a void...  
"Where in the hell?" Cloud said, he then spotted, "Guys, it's her!!"  
"Anse?! What's going on?" I asked.  
  
"All will be told later...right now I will rule all worlds...the heartless are mine to command." Ansemian said, sending a wave after us.  
Just then, weapons appeared in front of us.  
I was given some techno gear, Squall got an odd gun/sword, Yuffie received a type of boomerang thing, and Cloud got the sword he drooled over.  
"Well....I guess it's best that it comes down to this....if anyone was to stop me, it'd be my "old" friends." Ansemian said.  
She sent a wave of Heartless after us...  
'The next few hours are hard to recall...we we're spent fighting all the Heartless..and then it happend.'  
  
"Well...you've stopped my minions..but now...you must face me..." Ansemian said, floating around.  
"Stop this Anse! What happend to you?" I said, trying to talk some sense into her.  
"Stop? Stop?! Why? Why stop when I can now rule all......when I can finally gain the respect I wish to have." Anse said.  
"Respect? You mean this is over a silly game?" Squall said.  
"More than that.....but yes." Anse said, charging a spell, "And I won't let you....stop me!!"  
She threw the blast at us and we were engulfed by a bright light....  
  
...I was shaken up....I looked around...where...where in God's name were we?  
"What is this place?" I said outloud.  
"I don't know...this place feels so....empty." Yuffie said.  
"Well...what now?" Squall said, getting up off the ground and dusting himself off.  
"Don't know...but we won't figure anything out standing here." Cloud said, holstering his sword.  
This land was quite strange, it obviously wasn't home....the ground looked like water, but it was solid, the sky was an incredibly errie and ambient purple, and the sun/moon...whatever that sun-type object was, it glowed an off-white, beaming down on the water and adding to the creepiness.  
We walked for awhile, till we came upon.....stained glass floors?  
  
"What the hell?" Cloud said, "What're these?"  
"I don't know...but..." Yuffie said, pointing, "They keep going this way."  
"Well, then.." I said, thinking this over, "We've got no choice but to go up!"  
We walked along the paths...each of us thinking it odd that there was no sign of anything or anyone, including the heartless.  
"Well....if I've counting right...that's been seven floors." Squall said.  
"Seven floors.....and each one had a different picture of some girl on them..what does it mean?" I asked.  
Suddenly there came an intense explosion and we were flung around.  
  
When we came to this time, we saw someone fighting....it looked like some girls were...fighting Anse?....and winning?  
"Who the heck....who're they?" I said.  
"Hey, you finally woke up." Yuffie said, "Those are the same girls that were on those stain-glass images."  
"But...there just girls....how can they be winning against Anse?" I asked.  
"It seems that these are no ordinary girls...." Squall said.  
'Squall/Leon had no idea how right he was....these seven girls...and there offspring...would be quite important...'  
Just then we heard Anse scream.  
"Huh?" I said, blinking.  
The seven girls had formed a..portal? 'The door.....'  
"No...I..won't be beaten....I can't be beaten!" Anse said, being sucked into the doorway.  
'It was hard to see her....my former friend...to be taken like that...but I soon realized that..she..was..no..longer..my..friend....she was someone else.'  
As Anse slipped through the portal, our eyes met...for a moment, I thought I saw the old Anse, the one I grew up with....and then...the portal closed, she was gone.....  
"Anse!!" I shouted.  
'After all these years, it still hurts to think of that day.....the others don't remember too much, perhaps from blocking it off for all these years..but, I still do.'  
  
The girls called themselves the "Princesses of Dance", they had detected that Anse had come and they, the purest of pure hearts of dance, were the only ones that could stop her.  
They told us this so that we would know, and be able to pass on this info to him, the one that would come should Anse and the heartless return..'The Keymaster..that boy..'  
With that, the worlds began to return to normalcy, and we were once again back on our own world, although no one remebered anything from before.  
Perhaps that was for the best....  
  
----------------------------------  
Back in the present: Traverse Town Docks  
  
"Well, that was so long ago.....but he did come..." I said to myself, "And hopefully, with the info we gave to Terry indirectly, they should be able to stop her."  
And then....two of the ones with him.....if they only knew how important they would be..... 


	11. Seperation Anxiety

DDR HEARTS: Seperation Anxiety  
By  
Darkness Shade  
A/N: Keeping it steady to the end, let's see how our heroes fair now that they are almost within the end.......(Dark: *raises eyebrow* Hmm, he's up to something.....Ryan's POV...whatever he uses is copyright their original owner, except his characters and this story, which he owns....*goes off to concentrate*)  
--------------------------  
Space Between Dimensions  
  
This was it, at least...that's what I hoped. It was beginning to get tiresome, even for a hero such as myself.  
"Ryan, you okay?" Charmy asked.  
"Yeah...I'm fine..." I said, lying to her.  
In all honesty, I hadn't been feeling too well after what Terry had told me.  
"Well....there it is.......the villians home base....and more than likely where that hooded dude is." Terry said, pointing out the window.  
"Whoa!" I said, shaking, "Feel that evil energy...it's like the whole planet itself is...alive..."  
We landed on the surface....  
  
---------------------------  
Origin Centauri  
  
The five of us stepped out of the gummi ship and surveyed the land.  
"This place...it doesn't seem like it was always like this...." I said.  
We walked along until we reached what appeared to be the remains of a village.  
"*covers mouth* Oh dear....who, who could've done such a thing?" Charmy said.  
"That hooded guy, that's who." Shadow said, walking along.  
I checked the ruins of an old building..it was a bit dark inside, but I could still make out some things.  
From the looks of the damaged machines, I could tell this must've been an arcade at one point.  
One peice of equipment caught my eye...what appeared to be the ruins of..a DDR machine???  
The pad was cracked and beaten, the trick bar was broken in half and the screen had a large crack right down the middle.  
"What the hell?" I said, "This is getting weird."  
At once it sparked to life, startling me.  
"Who did that?" I said, grabbing my saber and looking around.  
Silence....all I heard was silence, other than the machine.  
It's bright screen illuminating the otherwise dull building.  
"Why has this started up? What purpose?" I said, watching the screen.  
I saw the ranking screen....all five for the hardest one was all one nickname: ANSE.  
"Anse? What kinda nickname is that?" I said.  
Then, as suddenly as it started, the screen shut off.  
"Hey, Ryan...Come on!!" Sonic shouted.  
"Coming!" I replied, slowly walking out.  
"You find anything?" Charmy asked.  
"Yea.....no, nothing important." I said, lying to her again.  
I didn't like to, but I didn't know if it was important at the time and we had bigger fish to fry.  
  
We walked through the town, the heartless had obviously been here.  
The destruction...it was undescribeable. We had dealt with varying heartless at times, and knew their strength was great, but nothing prepared us for what had been left here.  
We obviously we're heading towards a very powerful foe and this seemed to be where it all started from.  
We traveled out of the town and traveled through a mountainous region, over rivers, waterfalls, and other obstacles of nature.  
We soon arrived at the top of the final mountain range and saw....  
  
-------------------------  
Destiny Palace  
  
"Whoa...what do you figure the rent on that would cost?" Shadow said.  
"For once be serious..." Sonic said.  
"Well...this is it...let's face that hooded-dude once and for all." I said, activating the rail car from where we were to the Palace.  
As it slowly made its way over to the Palace, I couldn't help but think that this was too easy.  
Unfortuantely, I had to be right.  
"Hey Ryan, you hear that?" Terry asked.  
I strained, it was an unwinding sound...it was almost like...  
"Oh no! The rope...it's coming undone!" Charmy shouted.  
"Don't worry, just concentrate and we'll fly over." Sonic said, lifting off the ground....which he was above for only a few seconds as he fell back down.  
"What happend?" Shadow said, helping him up.  
"There's some kinda force-field over the top of this car. We're trapped."  
"Damn!" Terry said, "Now what do we do?"  
"Well, " I said, with a grin and a chuckle, "We hold on and pray!"  
At that moment, the last strand unwound and the line went slack.  
We fell for an enternity down into a darkness.  
We were unconscious before we hit the bottom.  
  
-------------------------  
???  
  
"Oh...anyone get the number of the truck that hit me?" I said, rubbing my aching head.  
I looked around, the others...they were gone.  
"I'm alone....but where the hell am I?" I said, getting up and walking down the corridor.  
I was greeted by a blinding light as I emerged out of the corridor.  
"Huh?"  
I looked around...and saw something that made me stop.  
"That's...impossible."  
Right smack dab in front of me was the OP Mall.  
"I'm back? But how?" I asked.  
I entered into the mall, walked towards the arcade, and there it was, the 5th mix machine.  
At this moment I noticed that about everyone around me was staring.  
"Um....yes? Can I help you guys with something?" I asked, slightly confused.  
"Hey...is that...it is!" said a random guy.  
"You mean...Ryan?!" said a random girl.  
"It is, it is!!!" said the crowd as the closed in on me.  
"Um, uh oh....can we talk this over?" I said nervously.  
Suddenly a girl jumped in front of me and the crowd stopped.  
"Um, sorry to bug you Mr.Ryan, sir.....we'll leave you be now." said the crowd, as the slowly walked away.  
"Thanks, " I said, wiping my brow, "Don't know who you are, but thanks for stopping them."  
The figure turned around, it was a girl, but not just any girl it was....  
"Don't know me?" she said with a smile, "How can you forget your girl Callie?"  
I blinked. What was she talking about? Since when was she my girlfriend?  
"Sorry....guess the group freaked me out..." I said, playing along.  
"Okay then...let's go." Callie said, taking my hand.  
  
Things were going weird, was everything that happend a dream?  
"Had it all been...fake?" I said.  
"All of what?" Callie asked.  
"Nothing, never mind." I said, "Um, not to be weird, but how long have we been a couple?"  
"That crowd must've shocked you more than I thought. We've been together ever since we started playing DDR three years ago."  
"Oh, okay..." I said.  
All right, now I knew that things were off.  
Whereever I was, this was not my world.  
  
"See ya later, sweety." Callie said, dropping me off at my house.  
"Um, yeah, see ya later too, dear." I said, waving and walking into my house.  
Hmm, everything appeared to be the same...the arcade, the kitchen, even the bedrooms..all of it was the same.  
"I guess it was a dream...it seemed so real though."  
I couldn't think, so at that point I just decided to go to sleep.  
  
--------------------------------  
Ryan's subconscious  
  
"Hey...wake up!" said a figure in shades and a leather jacket.  
I shook my head and stood up.  
"You...I know you!" I said, pointing, "Your Dark!"  
"Yes...and you were right. This is not the world we knew off. Someone is playing with your mind."  
"But if they're playing with my mind, how do I know that you're not one of them pretending to be Dark?"  
Dark grinned, "You'll have to trust me on that....look into your heart and you will find the truth. It's never failed you before...."  
With that he disappeared to wherever he came from.  
"My heart?" I asked, placing my hand over it.  
"He's right." I said, concentrating on the old memories, my friends, my world, and most importantly...."CHARMY!!!!"  
  
-------------------------------  
Emerald Coast  
  
Sonic looked around, he was back on Earth.  
"How did I end up back here?" Sonic said.  
He headed along till he reached...  
"Hey, that looks like Tails' workshop. Wonder if he knows what's going on?"  
Sonic knocked on the door and walked in.  
"Yo, Tails, you here?" Sonic asked.  
"Yeah, I'm in the garage." came Tails voice.  
Sonic headed towards the garage and found him fixing up their plane, the Tornado.  
"Looking nice, Tails." Sonic said.  
"Yeah, the Torando III will be even better that the first two combined." Tails said, getting up from under the machine, covered in oil.  
"*chuckle* Man, what a mess....that'll take you forever to get out."  
"Funny, Sonic, real funny." Tails said, "Oh, what're you doing here anyway?"  
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.  
"I thought you and Shadow had a date?" Tails asked.  
"What?? But Shad's a guy...." Sonic said.  
"You hit your head or something?....Shadow's a chick, man." Tails said, "You two have been together since college."  
"Oh..." Sonic said.  
'I'd better play along till I figure out what's wrong...' Sonic thought.  
"Well, where was I suppose to meet her?" Sonic asked.  
"Shad told me you were going to meet at The Emerald Cafe`. She's been so excited about it." Tails said.  
"Oh...well, I'd better hurry then." Sonic said running off.  
  
--------------------------------  
Emerald Cafe`  
  
"Oh, dear...where's my Sonikku?" Shadow said, sitting alone.  
Suddenly a whoosh of air came flying in and Sonic was next to her.  
"Sorry I'm late..." Sonic said, holding out some roses he had gotten, "But I wanted to pick you up some flowers."  
"Oh, Sonikku...." Shadow said, hugging him and kissing Sonic.  
'Well...it doesn't seem that bad...and Shad does feel like a girl.' Sonic thought.  
"So, how're you doing this fine day?" Sonic said, looking over Shadow.  
'Shad's actually pretty cute in that sailor suit..' Sonic thought.  
Shadow noticed that he was looking her over.  
"Like what you see, I take it?" Shadow said with a smile.  
"Sorry....I didn't mean to." Sonic said, looking at the ground.  
"It's okay...I'd rather it be you than anyone else." Shad said, taking his hand.  
Sonic just smiled and went on with the date.  
  
After he payed the bill, Sonic picked up Shadow and they went off.  
"Where to dear?" Sonic said, forgetting this wasn't his world.  
"Well, I was hoping we could go back to my place." Shad said with a cute smile.  
"Sure, just tell me the way....I kinda forgot." Sonic said.  
"Okay, this way." Shadow said, pointing out the directions.  
Sonic came to a stop and set Shadow down, he followed her inside and they sat and talked for awhile.  
"It's been nice today Sonikku....better than any other time....and I know why." Shadow said.  
"Why has it been better, Shad?" Sonic asked.  
"You've been a kind, sweet, gentlemen....." Shad said.  
"And that's different how?" Sonic asked with a smile.  
"Well.....that means that....your not the real Sonic...the real Sonic I know is an arrogant, pompous jerk...." Shad said.  
"Then why do you stay with him?" Sonic asked.  
"I guess it's just stupid blind love." Shadow said, "I wish you could stay, but it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the universe...you must go back to your friends and save all the worlds."  
"I figured that this wasn't my world. I just wish that your Sonic could be nicer...wait a tick." Sonic said, searching his universal pocket for something, "Here, you can use this."  
"What is it?" Shadow said, taking the golden object.  
"Well, it's something I found one day. It's a Millenium Arrow and it can show your Sonic the real person he should be...and how lucky he is to have you." Sonic said.  
"*smile* Thank you....and farewell." Shadow said, giving Sonic a kiss.  
  
--------------------------------------  
???  
  
Charmy stood up slowly.  
"Where am I?" Charmy asked.  
"This can't be....no!" Charmy said, looking around.  
Yet is was true, Charmy Anderson was now back...inside the machine.  
"NO!! It's can't be true..." Charmy said, falling to her knees.  
She looked around. There was the couch....the empty darkness...and the game screen.  
"No.....was it all a dream. No...it was so real." Charmy said.  
"You speaking to yourself again, girl?" said a girl in a beanie.  
"Emi? Is that you?" Charmy asked.  
"Yeah...you okay? You look like you've died and just lost everything." Emi said.  
"You could say that..." Charmy said.  
She then noticed what she and Emi were wearing, it was there 4th mix outfits.  
"Wait...what mix are we in?" Charmy asked Emi.  
"4th mix, of course...don't you know your own home?" Emi asked.  
"I guess not..." Charmy said, sitting down and letting it sink in.  
  
Just when Charmy was about to give up ever seeing her beloved Ryan again, something happend.  
The screen popped on, the select style came up, and the select charater screen came on.  
Charmy was suprised when she was picked.  
What she saw next blew her away.  
"R...Ryan?!" Charmy shouted in suprise.  
Indeed it was Ryan, albeit the less physical, still in training DDRist of the past.  
Past Ryan looked around, "I couldv'e sworn I heard someone say my name. Oh, well..."  
"Ryan...I'm here...." Charmy said, trying to get his attention.  
It was futile, he couldn't hear her.  
"Oh...so close...yet so far away." Charmy said, dancing along to the song.  
Past Ryan had that solemn look on his face, one of determination and of sadness.  
Charmy remembered that look from Ryan's future self, before she came along.  
"I guess this was after Callie broke his heart." Charmy said, awaiting the final song.  
"Well, Charmy...this one's for you." Past Ryan said, selecting 'If You Were Here'.  
"Oh, Ryan...." Charmy said, beginning to cry, "If only I was there with you......"  
After the song, Past Ryan got his total score, and looked around to make sure no one was looking in his direction.  
Past Ryan smiled, said good-bye to Charmy, and that he'd see her next week.  
"Even back then..rather now..he loved me." Charmy said, "Oh, Ryan!!"  
  
------------------------------  
???  
  
Shadow heard a voice calling him out of his sleep.  
"Shaaaaadoooooooow.....Shaaaadooooooow....wake up." said the voice.  
Shadow shook his(her?) head and stood up.  
"Where are you?" Shad asked.  
There was no response.  
"I wonder what happend to the others....." Shadow said, running off.  
Shadow looked at his surrondings, from the looks of things he had landed in some kinda forest.  
"Where on Earth am I?" Shadow said, summoning his ability to fly to get above the tree canopy.  
The sky was dark and forboding, and the forest stretched out for awhile.  
"Hmm...." Shad said, noticing some smoke, "Maybe there are some people there that'll help me out."  
As Shad got closer, he noticed that it was an overturned car...and there next to the car was...  
"Ugh.....what happend?" Shad said, seeing the corpses, "These people, who?"  
Shadow did his best to respect the bodies and made a makeshift grave to bury them.  
As soon as he was done, he noticed cars coming towards his position.  
"Maybe they know what's going on?" Shad said.  
The cars skidded to a stop, and some people jumped out of them.  
"Hey, you!" one of them said, pointing at Shadow, "What did you do to them?"  
"I found them all killed, none of them were still alive. So, out of respect, I buried them so they could find peace." Shadow said.  
"Hmmm...." the one in command said, obviously thinking this over.  
"I don't think so, I think you killed them and then buried them to cover up your crime." said a tempermental person, "You damn antros have been nothing but trouble ever since evoulution was kind enough to give you animals humanistic qualities."  
"Hey, chill! I didn't kill them, that's not my way. And I buried them out of respect. Would you rather I had left them out and their bodies get all muddy and violated by any number of things?"  
"Enough!!" said the commander, "You, what's your name?"  
"My name's Shadow."  
"Okay, Shadow, I'd like you to come with us...I doubt you killed them, but I'd like you to stay with us till we sort things out." the commander said.  
"Okay...as long as Mr.Prejudice over there calms down and doesn't try my patience." Shad said, as they got into their cars.  
"You coming?" said the commander.  
"You go, I can follow." Shad said with a grin.  
As the cars took off, Shad ran after them.  
"Quite impressive hedgehog, impressive indeed." said the commander.  
  
At the base, Shadow had been given a room to wait in.  
"Man, this place is weird." Shadow said, "What's going to happen to me?"  
Just then, the commander came in.  
"Hello, Shadow. Sorry to put you through this, but things have been tense since the Human-Anthro War."  
"Human-Anthro War?" Shad asked.  
"Yes, about 45 years ago....you guys...no, your kind rather..I'm not as insensitive as the others. Anyway, your kind finally reached a point where they could easily match humans in terms of population, and they gradually integrated with us. It wasn't easy, of course. Many people discriminated against anthros, and there was a great number of hate crimes. Just as the African-Americans and the Women had their rights movements, the Anthros soon bounded together under one leader to demand equal rights. He was a brilliant leader, he had friends of both the Anthro and human type. Here's a picture of him speaking at the million-anthro march on our capital."  
Shadow took the picture and was shocked to see who it was.  
"S-S-Sonic?!" Shad said.  
"You know him? Yes, Sonic Takeshi Hedgehog was the greatest Freedom Fighter for Antrho rights. However, he was assasinated at the age of only 23. Some say if he were to have lived, he would've led us to a great co-existence. Sadly....it sparked even greater hatred. We beleive this man had something to do with it."  
Shadow looked at the picture of this man.  
"No way...it couldn't be." Shad said.  
"Yes...Doctor Namgge Ovi Kintobor....aka...Eggman Ivo Robotnik. He was one of Sonic's best allies, but then suddenly, without reason, he turned and is the beleived assasin of Sonic. He furthered the flames of hatred, until....the war began. It was almost like another Civil War. It was soon to the point where neither side was winning, and many were dying. Yet it was the act of two people that stopped the war. One was a young man, only 18 and a young female anthro girl of the same age. They looked past each others differences and had fallen in love. However, there secret cost them there lives. They died for each other, just to show the world that humans and anthros could get along. After that, both sides felt horrible with each other and they signed a peace treaty."   
"Whoa, that's deep......but I'm guessing some people still harbor bad feeling towards anthros." Shadow said.  
"Yes, unfortuantely....some anthros and humans won't let it die....I'm afraid those people you found and buried were part of it. Well, have a good night's sleep. I'll see you in the morning." the commander said, walking out.  
  
"Well, guess I'd better hit the hay." Shad said, "I just wish I could've told Sonic my secret and how I felt before this happend...*shakes head*..oh, well. Too late now, I'll just rest."  
Soon Shadow was fast asleep, yet someone else was not.  
"Those damn anthros and there ways...all because of that female, my son......" said the tempermental man, "Well, you can fool the others, but I know that your just another Sonic."  
The man brandished a knife and came closer to Shadow.  
As he sent the knife towards Shad's chest, he opened his eyes......  
  
-------------------------------  
Inside the Palace  
  
"Muhahahahahahaha....Those two are trapped forever in their doubt and circumstance, but Ryan and Sonic are coming out of it. Luckily, I've entraped an ace in the hole." the hooded dude said, drawing a certain personage closer.  
"You will do well, who better to stop them than there own friend?" the hooded dude said with a smile.  
"I can almost summon the power, but I need more time...and besides, I wouldn't think of doing such till they arrived."  
  
--------------------------------  
Palace Gates  
  
I shot straight up, covered in a cold sweat.  
"Where? Who? What? When?" I shouted in confusion.  
"Wait, the sky, the gates, there...it's Sonic!" I said, "I'm Back!"  
Sonic was just awakening as I got up.  
"Am I Back?" Sonic asked.  
"Yes, you are...but we're missing over one half of our team." I said, helping him up.  
"Well, I can think of only one place they'd be." Sonic said, pointing towards the top of the palace.  
"Shall we fly then?" I said, hovering off the ground.  
"Yes...." Sonic said, joining me in the sky.  
We floated up for what seemed forever.  
We encountered no heartless, it was almost like we were being invited in.  
Soon we reached the topmost entrance.  
We landed and stood there, facing destiny in the eye.  
  
"Well, shall we finish then?" I asked.  
"Yes," Sonic nodded, "We will, and find our friends."  
We entered through a long corridor, down towards a large door in the form of a heartless symbol.  
"This should be no problem for my Keysaber." I said, pulling it out, "Burning Slash!" I shouted, invoking it's special move.  
The heartless symbol twitched and them slowly evaporated.  
We walked forward into...  
  
-------------------------  
The Chamber of Dance  
  
There was an odd sense of familiarity about this room.  
As if we had been here before, as if I'd been here before.  
When we walked in, we saw a sight that blew us away.  
There, encased in tubes along the sides of the walls, were seven woman.  
"Look, our friends." Sonic said, rushing over to one of the walls.  
Sure enough, we saw our missing friends.  
Charmy, Emi, and Mia. All set about in a row.  
Out of curiosity, I wanted to see who was in the other four tubes.  
One was..Callie?  
"Holy Hell! That's unexpected."  
I moved on and the next two made sense, Yuni and Alice.  
But it was the final one that completely blew me away.  
"What in the hell? Sonic get over here!" I said.  
"What is it, Ryan?" Sonic said, walking over to where I was.  
Sonic about fainted when he saw that, in the last stasis tube, was....Shadow!!  
'Heh, I wondered if all Shads were really girls like the one in that world...guess I was right.' Sonic said with a grin.  
"You know, it appears as if Charmy and Shad are in a lot of agony, how do we free them?" I asked.  
Just then we felt a rush of energy eminate from the floor above.  
"Hmm, I feel that may be what we're looking for." Sonic said, as we ran up the stairs.  
  
We stood in front of a machine with a huge keyhole in front of it, it was the source of all the evil we had detected.  
"Well, time to seal this sucker up and free our friends." I said, readying my Keysaber.  
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." said...Terry??? as he lunged at me.  
"Terry, what's..happend to you?" I asked.  
"Let's just say the heartless opened my eyes to the truth. If you want to seal that keyhole, you're going to have to go through me." Terry said, "And your friend won't be able to help you."  
With that he flung Sonic out of the way and put a magic barrier up, preventing him from getting in.  
"Sonic! That's it Terry, your going to pay for what you did." I said, lunging at him.  
With that Terry pulled out his own Keysaber and blocked my move.  
"How?" I asked.  
"Let's say that there are really two Keysabers....let's find out which is more powerful." Terry said.  
Terry pushed me back and charged his Keysaber, than began dashing all around the arena, trying to strike me.  
I was able to block most of his attacks.  
"Nice one, now try this." I said, charging back my Keysaber and letting it rip. It struck Terry and returned like a boomerang. I kept throwing it back till I let loose with the final strike, 'Judgement'.  
Terry was beaten, but he smiled.  
"I didn't expect you to be so strong. This weak form is so pathetic...hahahah, but now, I can regain my old form."  
With that Terry transformed.  
His hair became whiter, he was a bit taller, and was now....a woman?  
"What in the hell?" I asked.  
"Hahahahahaha.....you won't win. You may be the greatest DDRist now, but I was the original and will always win. I will rule the world...and you'll never be able to stop me."  
"Wait......that name on the list.....you, you're....Anse!!!" I said.  
"So, you've figured it out, eh? Well, congratulations. I am Ansemian....ugnh!"  
  
Just then, Terry's image formed in front of Anse.  
"Ryan...help.....I won't let you take over my body Anse....I won't let you win!!"  
"Terry!!" I shouted, not knowing what to do.  
"Ugh, you brat.....you won't win, I will silence you...but I'm not in the best condition to fight you yet, Ryan. You'll know where to find me when you're ready to try and save your friend. Till then, farewell!" Ansemian said, disappearing.  
"NO!! Damn!! Terry...now we've lost you....." I said, "First things first."  
I sealed up the keyhole and the heartless and evil stopped pouring out.  
The barrier dropped and I ran over to Sonic.  
"Hey, bud. You okay?" I asked, helping him up.  
"Yeah, let's check on the others." Sonic said, as we headed back towards the others.  
  
When we got down, we were happily suprised with what we saw, everyone was free from their capsules.  
"Thank God!! We saved them." I said.  
"Ryan!!!" Charmy said, running me over and falling on top of me.  
"Um, hey Charmy..it's nice to see you too." I said smiling.  
"I thought I'd never see you again." Charmy said.  
Shadow stood there, looking at Sonic.  
'Well, now we'll see if Shad's a she or not.' Sonic thought.  
"*blink*...S-S-Sonikku!!!" Shad said, running into Sonic's arms.  
"Guess that means you are a girl." Sonic said.  
"Yeah...I wanted to tell you earlier, but...." Shadow started, but Sonic put one gloved finger on her lips.  
"It's okay, I understand...others wouldn't understand it. But I'm glad you are a girl, now I can feel safe about my feelings." Sonic said.  
"You mean you...?" Shadow said, "I'm releived...."  
Yuni and Alice stared at us.  
"You guys saved us, again?" Yuni asked.  
"Yeah, of course. We're the heroes." Sonic said.  
"Besides, we had to repay the favor for what you did for us Yuni." I said.  
"Okay, well, now what?" Alice asked.  
"Um," Callie said, speaking up, "I think that me, Yuni, and Alice should stay here and make sure that no more evil breaks out. While I was in that thing, I saw a vision...of our past. This is our destiny, we must succeed."  
"Right, Callie. It's nice to know you've changed." I said, as Sonic, Shadow, Mia, Charmy and I ran as fast as we could back to our gummi ship.  
  
--------------------------------  
Space Between Dimensions  
  
"Well, how do we find them?" Mia said, "We must rescue Terry."  
"Ansemian said that I'd know where she is when I wanted to find her." I said, "That must be a clue."  
"Well, perhaps it has to do with your mastery of the force and the ability to sense evil." Sonic said.  
"Yeah, he's got a point. Maybe you can detect them." Shadow said.  
"Right." I said, concentrating, searching for Terry's unique energy aura.  
It must've been no more than a few moments when I locked on to it.  
"Whoa, it's pretty high. Ansemian must want us to find her." I said.  
"Well, then..." Mia said, crakcing her knuckles, "Let's not disappoint the bitch!"  
'Hey, Ryan....Mia's pretty hot when she's angry.' Dark thought.  
'What, you telling me you like her?' I thought, cracking a smile.  
'.....So what if I do? *runs off into my consciouness*'  
'I wonder about him sometimes....' I thought, as I set the ship towards the source of Terry's energy aura.......... 


	12. Every Beginning Has An Ending

DDR HEARTS: Every Beginning Has An Ending  
By  
Darkness Shade  
  
A/N: Well.....it comes all down to this, doesn't it? It's been a good run, and to those who've read, and the few who reviewed, I thank you for taking time to look over my work. Now, what do you say we finish this and save the worlds!!! (Dark: He's always so emotional.....)  
-----------------------------  
End of Universe  
  
The group of heroes landed on a small, purplish plateau overlooking a ravine.  
"Well, gang," Ryan said, "This is it. Time to face destiny."  
"And time to make that Anse pay!" Charmy said, locking and loading her Ray Gun.  
"We must save Terry." Mia said.  
"Don't worry Mia. We'll try our best...and if that doesn't work," Sonic said.  
"Then we'll just do it!" Shadow finished.  
The group of heroes entered a chamber and slowly descended to the bottom of the ravine.  
"There's a lake?" Ryan said, walking over to the reflective surface.  
"Hmmm..." Charmy said, walking over to the edge.  
"Hey, girl, what do ya think your doing?" Shadow said.  
Charmy walked over the edge of the water.....and was walking on water?  
"How in the heck?!" Mia said in surprise.  
"It's a fake surface, guys. It's only an illusion." Charmy said, walking further out.  
"Well, if it works for her, then it should for us." Sonic said, joining her.  
Soon the whole group was walking along the lake.  
  
'This is too easy, something is bound to happen.' Ryan thought.  
As if on cue, a strange purple darkness enveloped the band of heroes and transported them towards an alternate plane.  
"Great, I just had to think...." Ryan said, drawing his Keysaber.  
Suddenly a large mass of dark particles seeped through the rock wall, twisting and curling, forming into three very menacing, scary looking heartless, each of them wielding a large, jagged sword.  
"Well, then...shall we?" Ryan said with a grin.  
Ryan charged one of the heartless in a one-on-one duel, his keysaber clanking with its sword.  
Ryan lifted up forcefully and flung the heartless's sword away.  
"Time to die!" Ryan said, pulling off a three-slash combo that decimated the heartless.  
Charmy and Mia double-teamed the other one.  
"Ready Charmy?" Mia said, "Blizzard!!"  
The second heartless was frozen solid and landed with a tinkling sound.  
"Say goodbye!" Charmy said, readying her blaster.  
Charmy charged it up and let loosed with a big blast of firepower, sending the heartless into oblivion with a vibrant explosion of lightning and color.  
Sonic and Shadow took the last one.  
"Let's see....how about a twin Chaos Control?" Sonic said with a grin.  
"That is perfect, hon." Shadow said with a smile.  
The two hedgehogs began circling around the heartless, entraping it in a vortex.  
"CHAOS CONTROL!!" Sonic and Shad said as they warped to and fro, slicing the heartless into nothing.  
Needless to say, this little exercise had worn the group out.  
"Well..*pant*.." Ryan said, catching his breath, "..*pant*..shall we continue?"  
The others nodded as they continued along their path.  
  
------------------------------  
Gateway to Worlds  
  
A/N: If you wish, start playing the song 'A', pausing at the break  
  
The group continued along until they reached a series of platforms, each containing a pillar of light.  
"These look odd." Sonic said, walking up to one.  
He stuck his head into one and gasped.  
"Well, what did you see?" Shad asked.  
"It..it was another world!" Sonic said, "One we went to before!"  
"Really?" Ryan said, sticking his head through it.  
Sure enough, he saw the clouds and ruins from Megaman Trigger's world.  
"Interesting." He said, "I wonder if Ansemian might be using the power of these worlds to power this one?"  
"Perhaps," Mia said, "But I'm more interested what is at the end of these platforms."  
The group began to fly through the sky, towards a large platform in the distance.  
"Well, there's nothing her but a large hole." Charmy said.  
"Shall we jump in then?" Sonic said with a grin.  
"Let's!" Ryan said, jumping first.  
  
As the group fell down the hole, they began to slow and fly in midair.  
"Hey, what's with the auto-pilot on our flying?" Shadow said.  
"Not sure, but this can't be good." Ryan said, sensing something.  
They looked around, there was nothing but darkness surronding them.  
Suddenly, one by one, pairs of eyes began to illuminate the darkness, till all the walls were covered in bright, yellow eyes.  
"S***! Everyone, battle stances!" Ryan said, drawing his saber and powering up.  
  
A/N: At this point, unpause the song and let it play!  
  
The walls sparked to life as thousands upon thousands of Heartless minions emerged, spiraling to and fro, circling our heroes.  
"Crap! Take as many as you can!" Sonic said, zooming around and slicing through them.  
Mia began casting spell after spell, hoping to impede the overwhelming swarms.  
'This is no good!' Ryan thought, 'We need something better!'  
'Then link with me!' Dark said, 'It's our only hope!'  
"*sigh* Your right." Ryan said, as he and Dark melded into their combined form, DR!  
"Okay, everyone stand back!" DR shouted at the others.  
The band of heroes took shelter farther back as DR slamed togehter his twin Keysabers.  
He began to twirl the twin blades around faster and faster, as they began to develop a very bright glow.  
"Time to finish this!!" DR shouted, "LIGHT FORCE ATTACK!!"  
A huge, engulfing orb of white light surronded the area and took in every Heartless...those poor bastards never stood a chance.  
"*pant* Take...*pant*..that!" DR said, turning back into Ryan.  
Ryan slowly fell to the ground, beat but happy.  
"Ryan!" Charmy said, hugging me.  
"Come on guys, it's time to save Terry!" Mia said, leading the group towards a bright doorway.  
The group peered into the doorway and entered....  
  
----------------------------------  
A very familiar place...  
  
....stepping out into a place that looked, and felt, familiar.  
"Hey....Ryan....does this place seem familiar?" Charmy said.  
"I think you're right, Charmy!" Ryan said, "Holy....where back on Earth?"  
"It would seem so," Mia said, "But...it's almost too quiet...eerily quiet."  
"She's got a point." Sonic said, "The mall was never this quiet."  
Suddenly a loud explosion caught the groups' attention.  
"What the hell was that?" Shadow said.  
"I don't know, but...we'd better be careful." Ryan said.  
They made their way around the mall, soon arriving at the west wing of the OP MALL....where there was a huge chunk of it missing, apparently blown away by something.  
"What the heck could've done this?" Mia said.  
'More like who' Dark thought, 'Careful Ryan. Whoever did this is still near.'  
Ryan nodded and started looking around.  
  
'Ha, ha, ha...they've no idea.' said a voice, charging up a shot.  
"Everyone, Lookout!" Ryan shouted, jumping in front of the group and knocking away blast with his Keysaber.  
"Bwahahahahaha! Welcome you fools!" Anse said, flying in in front of us.  
"It's her...Ansemian!" Charmy said, unholstering her blaster.  
"Correct....and you've just elected yourselves the first to die!" Anse said, flying around us while putting her hands together.  
"Get Ready!" Ryan shouted as the group took their defensive stances.  
"HA! That won't help you!" Anse said, shooting out some energy blasts.  
The others dodged as Ryan attempted to knock them back at her.  
After a number of misses, he finally connected.  
"Yes, take this!" Ryan said, coming in for a jumping slash.  
Anse laughed as a heartless appeared from within her and smacked Ryan back hard.  
"UGH!" Ryan said, landing hard onto the concrete parking lot.  
"Ryan!" Charmy shouted.  
Anse lifted off the ground and started chanting something.  
A ball of pure darkness began to form above her hands as she pulled back to throw it.  
"Well, well...it seems you've got some attachment to that one. I'll just snuff her out!" Anse said, throwing the ball of darkness at Charmy.  
Ryan slowly lifted his head up and saw it coming towards her.  
In what must've been a foolish, yet brave, act, he dashed towards Charmy, jumping in front of her to intercept the blast.  
"NO! RYAN!!" Charmy said as the blast hit me and engulfed me.  
  
------------------------------  
Unknown Plane  
  
"Ugh, Ow! What was that?" Ryan said, standing up.  
Ryan was in an area of complete darkness.  
"It was her finishing attack....we're lucky to be alive." said a voice.  
Ryan was a bit dismayed, who was this person?  
"Where are you?" Ryan asked, looking around.  
All around, Ryan merely saw darkness.  
Suddenly, something lit up in front of him.  
It had a silverish glow about it, and it illuminated a familiar face.  
"It's you, Dark." Ryan said, looking a bit, how shall we say, unexcited.  
"You don't seem happy to see me." Dark said, walking over to Ryan.  
"I've failed. I may have stopped her from killing Charmy at that moment, but...without us their, they don't stand much of a chance." Ryan said.  
"Well...we're not dead, yet." Dark said, holding up his Keysaber, "Now come on! Let's save them!"  
Dark then slashed in midair and opened up a portal back to....OP MALL.  
  
-----------------------------  
Ruins of OP MALL  
  
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's rid of one fool....Wha!?" Anse said, seeing a portal appear above her.  
"Well, this "fool"....." Ryan said, slashing and blocking her protective heartless.  
"Is now "fools"!" Dark said, slashing straight through Ansemian.  
"Who? What? Who the hell are you?" Anse said, clutching her wounds.  
"Allow me to introduce myself." Dark said, grining and looking over his shades, "The name is Darkness Shade. I'm Ryan's Dark side and that little dark light show of yours seperated the two of us. This "fool", as you put it, is now two."  
"And that means...you're through!" Ryan said, slashing away the protecting heartless.  
"No, you damn fools! I'll make you PAY!!!!" Anse said, charging herself up and releasing her energy.  
The group was flung around as the fake world disentegrated.  
  
-----------------------------  
Heartless Home  
  
The brave band of heroes found themselves floating in a dark abyss.  
"Um, anyone got a clue as to where the hell we are?" Dark said, holstering his Keysaber.  
"I don't care, I just want to know where Anse is."  
The group flew on for awhile, till they reached an ancient set of ruins.  
"What is this?" Mia said, brushing aside some dust off of a plaque.  
'The ones who are powered by the heart, those who have no hearts;  
When destiny becomes apparent, and the sides must meet;  
Only those with the Keys of Faith shall prevail;  
One for Souls, the other for Hearts;  
When the two become one, the final door shall open;  
Then the true power of the heartless shall appear;  
And then the world will either be saved, or doomed....'  
"What do you figure that means?" Sonic said, looking it over.  
"Well, from what I can figure....*points at Ryan and Dark*...those two must be the ones with the Keys of Faith." Shadow said.  
Ryan and Dark looked over their Keysabers.  
"So, this was always bound to happen...it was our destiny." Ryan said, taking it in.  
"But what is this about a door?" Dark said, "And then either the world being saved or doomed?"  
"It is a bit puzzling." Charmy said.  
  
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the largest heartless anyone of them had seen appeared, along with...  
"Ansemian!!" Ryan shouted, a tone of disgust and hate in his voice.  
"*pant* Yes...and now....when I merge with this......with Oblivion....I will the most powerful creature in the galaxy!" Anse said, as she began to glow and join with Oblivion.  
"Oh, great. What the hell do we do now!?" Sonic said.  
Ryan and Dark looked at each other and nodded.  
"Well, there is no choice then." Ryan said with a grin.  
"Yes, it's time..for us to be the heroes we are." Dark said with a grin as well.  
"Guys, what're you doing?" Charmy said.  
"Like the prophecy said, "When the two become one, the final door shall open...", It has to do with us." Ryan said.  
"We must become one again." Dark said.  
Ryan and Dark began to concentrate and glow.  
"Well, if this doesn't work...we can say goodbye." Ryan said as he and Dark fused back into their combined super form, DR.  
But there was something different about it this time.  
Instead of the silverish-gold glow with the bronzish tinge, DR was a fiery gold and his twin Keysabers glew a brilliant white.  
"Well....Let's do this!!!" DR shouted, flying off towards Anse/Oblivion.  
  
"So, you want some, huh?" Anse said, "Take this!"  
Obivion launched all sorts of missles, energy spheres, and other such manner of attacks.  
Needless to say, DR sustained some damage, but nothing he couldn't handle.  
'Damn! We can't get close!' DR thought.  
The others saw DR's peril and flew up to help.  
Mia and Charmy double-teamed Oblivion's missle launcher things and zapped, froze, burned, and decimated them.  
Sonic and Shadow went after the core of the beast in an attepmt to try and slow it down.  
However, it was well protected with a force-field of sorts.  
"Damn, we can't budge it." Shadow said.  
Sonic looked up and saw DR taking a beating just blocking the attacks.  
"We've got...to...break...through...this!!!" Sonic said, just as something snapped in him and he glowed a bright yellow color.  
"*blink* Sonikku...you went super by will alone!" Shadow said, staring in awe.  
"Yes, this is perfect...but how.....?" Super Sonic said, "I guess I couldn't take it anymore and then seeing DR.......Let's bust through this thing!!!"  
Super Sonic flew up and gained enough momentum to bust straight through the sheild and rupture the core....however, it drained him of all his energy and he collapsed into Shadow's arms.  
  
DR looked around, the projectiles, everything, had stopped.  
In fact, Oblivion looked like it was...dying.  
"Oh, yes! Time to finish this now, Anse!!!" DR said, flying straight towards her position.  
"No, how? Oblivion is invincible!" Anse said, unfusing herself with Oblivion and drawing out a long sword.  
It came down to this, a final duel between the saviors of the world and the bringer of darkness.  
The clashes of their saber to her sword left sparks that illuminated the darkness of the surrounding area.  
Blow by blow, they each were wearing the other down.  
"*pant* I won't...let ..*pant*..you win!" DR said, taking a stance.  
"*pant* And...I...*pant*...won't lose!!" Anse said, staring down DR.  
Neither moved, both of them focused on the other...and then.  
"WE FINISH THIS NOW!!!!!" DR and Asne said at the same time, dashing towards each other, and attacking with one final slash....  
  
-------------------------------  
Around The Galaxy  
  
At that moment, every hero on every world felt something.....  
...."Leon...." Aerith said.  
"Yes, I know...." Leon said.  
Cid nodded to them as they felt it......  
  
"Tom, you feel that....it's Ryan...." Jacob said.  
"Your right.....Go Ryan!!" Tom shouted....  
  
....Goku looked up into the sky.  
"What's the matter, Father?" Gohan said.  
"It's that human who helped beat Cell...."  
  
....Trigger was just emerging from a new dig when his sensors were going crazy.  
"Megaman? Do you feel that?" Roll said through his communicator  
"Yeah...I'd know that source anywhere.....that guy....." Megaman said.  
  
....Back at Maverick Hunter HQ, X and Zero were picking up a signal as well.  
"Hey, X? That...that reading...is it...." Zero said.  
"I beleive so...that human who made sport of Sigma......" X said.  
  
....Domon was relaxing his mind, sitting in his Gundam.  
"Hmm...the sun is burning red.....the Keymaster...." was all he said as he focused on the battle....  
  
------------------------  
Heartless Home  
  
There was a clink sound as the sword and sabers met. The two dashed past each other and stood for what, in reality was a few seconds, seemed like eternity.  
"I win..." DR said.  
Anse began slowly falling down, clutching her side.  
Anse landed in front of, a very large door.  
"What the hell?" DR said, landing in front of her.  
The others soon joined as well.  
"You fool. Now that you've become one, the final door can be opened. Now the darkness shall envelope the universe!!" Anse said, as the door began to open.  
DR shook his head and smiled.  
"You foolish woman! That door doesn't contain darkness....but the SAVING LIGHT!!!" DR said, as the door blew open and light shined forth, evaporating Ansemian.  
"Noooooo......" Anse said, disappearing from sight.  
  
We ran over to the doors, as there was a huge number of heartless behind it.  
"Hurry guys!! Push!!" DR said, trying to shut the heavy door.  
One of the heartless tried to get out...but someone stopped it.  
"PUSH and I'll PULL!!" said..Terry?!  
"Terry!" DR said.  
Terry merely nodded and DR did in turn as they used all their strength to close away the heartless for good.  
"Goodbye...my friends!" Terry said as the door sealed him with the heartless...forever.  
After that, we were flung around as all the destruction the heartless caused was being undone.  
After all that, we still lost. Not in the big way, we had saved the universe...but...we'd lost a friend, albeit he bravely gave his life to stop the heartless threat from destroying the worlds.....  
  
-------------------------------  
CREDITS  
  
A/N: Play the song: "Charging Up The Buster" if desired   
  
CHARACTERS:  
  
Ryan Reid as Himself Darkness Shade as Himself  
Charmy Anderson as Herself Mia Ausa as Herself  
Terry Pan as Himself Tom Bradley as Himself  
Jacob Plicque as Himself Sonic Takeshi Hedgehog as Himself  
Toshiba Emi as Herself Shadow The Hedgehog as Herself  
Miles "Tails" Prower as Himself Callie Strickland as Herself  
Yuni Verse as Herself Alice Ip as Herself  
Akira as Himself Eggman Ivo Robotnik as Himself  
  
Sonic and Shadow used courtesy of SEGA  
Charmy Anderson, Emi Toshiba, Yuni Verse, Alice Ip, and Akira used courtesy of Konami  
Terry, Mia, Tom, Jacob, Ryan, Callie, and Darkness Shade used courtesy of my friends  
Earth used courtesy of God, OP MALL used courtesy of city of Jacksonville  
  
Aerith as HerselfCid as Himself  
Leon Squall as HimselfYuffie as Herself  
Cloud Strife as Himself Ansemian as Herself  
  
Traverse Town, and FF character used courtesy of Square  
  
Goku as HimselfTrunks as Himself  
Vegeta as HimselfPiccolo as Himself  
Cell as HimselfGohan as Himself  
Krillin as HimselfAndroid 18 as Herself  
Shenron as HimselfHercule(Mr.Satan) as Himself  
Android 16 as Himself  
  
DBZ Earth used courtesy of King Yama, Characters used courtesy ofAkira Toriyama  
  
Megaman Trigger as HimselfRoll Casket as Herself  
The Bonnes as Themselves  
Terra used courtesy of The Master, Characters used courtesy of Capcom  
  
Gun Reps Members as Themselves  
Zero as Konamison Reploid  
Earth used courtesy of God, Reploids are a registered trademark of Capcom  
  
Megaman X as HimselfZero as Himself  
Sigma as HimselfVile as Himself  
Dr. Cain as himself  
X's world used courtesy of Capcom, characters used courtesy of Capcom  
  
Domon Kashu as HimselfRain as Herself  
Master as Master's Spirit  
Gundams used courtesy of Bandai corp.  
  
OTHER CHARACTERS:  
  
Zoel Houle as Mr.Prejudice(j/k)Sonic as Sonic from Mobius 2  
Jacob Plicque, Trey Rogers, and Kevin Sweat as Heartless Lackeys  
Tom Bradley, Terry Pan, and Zero as Swordman Heartless  
Oblivion as Itself: Operated by Darkness, Ryan, and Jacob Plicque  
Sally Acorn as Sally from Mobius 2  
Dark Cube and Platinum Star as Themselves: Created by Mia Ausa and brother  
Amy Rose as Amy Rose from Mobius 2  
Shadow Gundam as Heartless Soldier Mecha from Traverse Town  
Charmy Anderson as Mecha Charmy from Mobius 2  
Everyone as Random Heartless  
Ryan and Darkness as Sega1cool/Darkness Shade (The Author)  
  
Props to all my fans: Thanks for the support and the constant pressuring to keep it going. I couldn't have done it without you guys. THANK YOU!!! ;)  
----------------------  
Ending  
  
We pass all the planets after the worlds have begun to reform and alter back.....  
  
A/N: Play 'Look To The Sky (True Color Remix)'  
On Mobius 2...  
Tom and Jacob are going through rubble, helping rebuild the city to its once former glory after Eggman has been defeated.  
Sonic is running around again, causing trouble but still helping.  
Sally is going over some plans to fix the buildings and yelling at Sonic to stop fooling around.  
  
A/N: Play 'Ghosts (Vincent De Moor Remix)'  
On Lunar....  
Vane is now back again, with the people busy to fix things up and get life back to normal.  
The buildings have been rebuilt and it now seems as if the heartless had never come.  
  
A/N: Play 'Sync (Extreme Version)  
On DBZ Earth....  
A good number of years have passed since that day, and it is now once again time for the World's Martial Art Tournament.  
Gohan is now older and has a new brother Goten.  
As the crowd cheers, one can only feel the excitement as they Z warriors prepare for a little fun combat.  
  
A/N: Play 'Healing Vision ~Angelic Mix~'  
On Terra....  
Trigger is in another ruins, facing another giant reaverbot.  
Running down the halls, he manages to trick the reaverbot by moving in different directions faster than it can detect.  
He then comes up from behind and finishes it off.  
"Roll, come in. I'm done here...and I'm bringing back a big Refractor!" Megaman Trigger said, clutching a Red refractor.  
  
A/N: Play 'PARANOiA Survivor'  
Year 21XX...  
X and Zero are battling Sigma once again.  
"You won't win this time." Sigma says, full of himself.  
X just smirks and calls forth his Ultimate Armor, Zero his Dark Armor.  
The two charged Sigma and engage in a saber battle, each parrying the other.  
"Sorry, Sigma...but this time, you don't come back!" Zero said, slicing him with his saber.  
"Huh? Argh....how...?" Sigma said, apparently shorting out.  
"Heh, all that and he's just a stupid virus..." X said as the two warped out.  
  
A/N: Play 'Burning Heat (3 Options Mix)'  
Future Century 60...  
Domon is inside his Gundam, taking on his friend and fellow Shuffle Alliance member, Chibidi.  
"Ha, I won't lose this time." Chibidi says, his Gundam Maxter donning it's boxing gear.  
Domon just smirks as he power ups his Gundam's Hyper Mode.  
"Two can play at that game!" Chibidi says, following suit.  
The two parry and dodge each others blows, till Chibidi attempts for a win.  
"Machine Gun Punch!" Chibidi yells, delivering a string of blows to the Burning Gundam.  
"Oh, yeah....Burning Finger!!" Domon yells, taking hold of Chibidi's Gundam and trashing it.  
  
A/N: Play 'Candy Star(instrumental)'...switching to Ryan's POV  
Earth Prime...  
Well, that's our adventure. We came a long way, and many changes happend.  
I know some were hard, some difficutlies always are.  
While those who are gone will never get back, our memories of them keep them alive.  
Mia decided to move in with us after this whole fiasco and now it's me, Shadow, Sonic, Charmy, Dark and her all in my house.  
At least it's not so lonely anymore..*smiles*  
As for me, I still play DDR, always trying to improve my skill.  
Speaking of it, I'm playing right now, Double Play Mode.  
My song, 'Candy Star'.  
I'm jumping like crazy, moving at a blur rate.  
My time is nearly done and I hope you enjoyed it.  
I finish the song and on the last step, spin around, smile, wink and give the peace sign..... 


End file.
